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4 



MEMOIRS OF MARSHAL OUDINOT 




(Warshai. Oudinot 



DUC DK REGGIO 



MEMOIRS OF MARSHAL OUDINOT 
DUG DE REGGIO 

COMPILED FROM THE HITHERTO UNPUBLISHED 

SOUVENIRS OF THE DUCHESSE DE REGGIO 

BY GASTON ,STIEGLER, AND NOW FIRST 

TRANSLATED INTO ENGLISH BY 

ALEXANDER TEIXEIRA 

DE MATTOS 



IVITH TIVO PORTRAITS 
IN HELIOGRAVURE 





NEW YORK 

D. APPLETON AND COMPANY 

1897 



.^8 Oq 



5808 



Authorized Edition. 



CONTENTS 



PAGE 

CHAPTER I I 

Oudiriot's family — His birth — His impetuous character — His military vocation 
— His first feat of arms— He suppresses a riot — His ascendancy over his fellow- 
citizens — Appointed commandant of the 3rd Battalion of the Volunteers of the • 
Meuse — War on the Rhine frontier — His first successes — Colonel at twenty-six 
— His men's affection for him — He stops the emigration of ofiicers of noble 
birth — Success and wounds at Haguenau — General after the affair at Kaiser- 
slautern — Leg broken at the siege of Treves — Receives five wounds at Neckerau 
— Charges at Ettenheim with his arm in a sling — The Swiss campaign — He is 
made a general of division — Arrival at the army of his son Victor, aged eight^^ 
Oudinot's share in the victory of Zurich — Spares the emigrants at Constance 
with tact and generosity — Praise from Mass^na — Oudinot's firmness at the siege 
of Genoa — Captures a gun at Monzembano — Enthusiasm of the inhabitants of 
Bar-le-Duc for their distinguished fellow-citizen — The camp at Boulogne — Hia 
devoted servant Pils. 



CHAPTER II , . ,31 

The first Austrian campaign — Oudinot Commander-in-Chief of the Grenadiers 
— Oudinot at Wertingen — His success at Amstetten — He participates in the 
capture of the Thabor - Brilcke — His heroism at the sanguinary victory of 
Hollabrunn — He shows himself as great an administrator as a soldier, and 
wins the affections of the people of Neuchatel — Their gratitude — He receives the 
freedom of Neuchatel — The Prussian and Polish campaigns — The victory of 
Ostrolenka — Oudinot before Dantzig — Fresh victories over the Russians — His 
tenacity and his services at Friedland — He falls from his horse at Dantzig — He 
meets Mile, de Coucy — The Coucy family — Its adventures during the Revolu- 
tion — Robespierre the Younger — The Chanoinesse de Coucy — Life at Vitry-le- 
Frangois at the end of the eighteenth century — M. Leclerc, Prefect of the Meuse 
— The Princesse Borghese's bath — Visit to Bar-le-Duc — Mile, de Coucy is con- 
stantly attracted by the name of Oudinot — The Comtesse Oudinot — General 
Oudinot's purchase of the estate of Jeand'heurs. 



vi CONTENTS 

PAGE 

CHAPTER III 74 

The Congress of Erfurt — Oudinot Governor of Er'urt — The Czar Alexander — 
The Grand-Duke Constantine and the King of Wurternberg — Constantine and 
the Grenadiers — Alexander's apprehensions — Constantine's plume — The second 
Austrian campaign — The engagements of Pfaffcnhofen, Ried, Ebersberg — 
Oudinot occupies Vienna - Oudinot at Essling — He replaces Lannes in command 
of the 2nd Corps — Oudinot is made a Marshal and Due de Reggio — A compli- 
mentary letter from the Czar — Oudinot's mission to Holland — His moderation 
and humanity — His success — Death of his first wife — The Emperor's divorce — 
Marie Louise — Annexation of Holland — Marriage negociations between the 
Due de Reggio and Mile, de Couey — The betrothal — The marriage — The 
ceremony — Departure for Bar-le-Due— The Marshal's father — His children. 

CHAPTER IV 117 

Preparations of war against Russia — Departure of the Due and Duchesse de 
Reggio for the army — Arrival at Munster — The Princesse d'Eckmiihl — The 
entry into Berlin — The Comte de Narbonne — Review of the French troops at 
Berlin — Oudinot's courtesy and consideration towards the King of Prussia — 
Increasing certainty of war — Oudinot's departure for Marienwerder — The 
Duchesse's return to Bar-le-Duc — The cros>ing of the Niemen — Oudinot Com- 
mander-in-Chief of the 2nd Corps — Victorious at Deweltowo — His operations on 
the Dwina against Wittgenstein — He lures him into an awkward position, and 
defeats him on the Drissa — Increasing difficulties of the situation — Oudinot 
setiously wounded at Polotsk — The Duchesse joins him in Russia — Events of 
this long journey — Augeread — First symptoms of discontent — Arrival at Wilna 
— The Due de Bassano — Oudinot resumes the command — The intense cold— 
The retreat — Devotion of M. Abramowietz. 

CHAPTER V .169 

Oudinot manoeuvres to become master of the Beresina — Battle of Borizow — 
General Corbineau accidentally discovers the ford of Studianka — Erection of 
bridges — Oudinot's active measures to facilitate the crossing — He is grievously 
wounded — Details of the retreat — Oudinot is nearly captured at Plctchnitzy — 
His energy and greatness of soul under this circumstance — He rejoins the 
Duchesse at Wilna — The Emperor leaves the army — The return — Cruel suffer- 
ings — The night of the 7th of December — All the food is frozen — Marshal 
Oudinot's grief at hearing of the loss of his artillery — In spite of the evidences 
he refuses to believe in the destruction of the army — General Rapp at Dantzig 
— The journey across Germany — Return to Bar-le-Duc. 

CHAPTER VI .214 

Journey to Paris — Illness of the Duchesse de Reggio — The Duchess is pre- 
sented at Court — The Emperor — M.iric Louise — Presentation to the Empress 
Mother — The Empress Josephine — Queen Hortense — Return to Bat-le-Duc — 
The Chevalier de Boufllcrs — The Campaign of 1S13— Oudinot's impoitant share 



CONTENTS vii 

PAGE 

in the Battle of Bautzen — He is placed at the head of the army destined to 
operate against Berlin — His objection to this movement, which he considers 
impracticable — He accepts from a sense of duty — He finds it impossible to con- 
centrate his forces, and receives a check at Gross-Beeren — Part played by 
Oudinot at Dennewitz — His energy at Leipzig — He protects the retreat — He 
is attacked by typhus — Brought back to Bar in imminent danger of death— 
The first preparations for the French campaign. 

CHAPTER VII . . . . . . .242 

The French campaign — Respect shown by the invaders for Oudinot's estates — 
His share in the fighting at la Rothiere — Departure of the Duchesse de 
Reggie — Victor Oudinot wounded at Craome — Oudinot's desperate proposal 
to rally the French corps spread over Germany — Departure of Marie Louise — 
Capitulation of Paris — Queen Hortense at RambouiUet — Incidents on the 
Duchesse de Reggie's journey — The abdication — Oudinot recognizes the Bour- 
bons — He is made a Minister of State — Mme. de Stael and the Comtesse Waleska 
at Josephine's — Visit of the Czar to Oudinot — Portrait of the Duchesse 
d'Angouleme — Oudinot a Peer of France — Oudinot is appointed Commandant 
of the Royal Grenadiers and Chasseurs — His conciliatory spirit — The King 
waited upon by the mayors at the Hotel-de-Ville — Portrait of the Due de Berry — 
Oudinot at Metz — The Due de Berry in the East — His passage through Bar- 
le-Duc and fetes given in his honour at Oudinot's — M. Jacqueminot's accident 
— The Reggios return to Paris. 

CHAPTER VIII 291 

The return from Elba— Oudinot's attitude — He remains faithful to Louis XVIIL, 
but his soldiers desert to the Emperor — He receives orders to keep to his estate, 
but is afterwards summoned to Paris — Exchange of letters with Marshal Davout 
— Oudinot refuses to serve during the hundred days — After Waterloo, he is 
appointed Commander-in-Chief of the National Guard — Return of Louis XVIIL 
—Oudinot's efforts to protect the army against the Royalist reaction — His attempt 
to save Marshal Ney — His grief on learning of the execution — The Duchesse de 
Reggio is made Mistress of the Robes to the Duchesse de Berry — Her departure 
to meet the Princess — Portrait of the Duchesse de Berry — The. presentation — The 
return journey. 

CHAPTER IX . . . . . . . .329 

Interview of the Due and Duchesse de Berry in the Forest of Fontainebleau — 
The ceremony at Notre Dame — The Duchesse de Berry's new existence — The 
Greffulhe Ball — The 13th of February 1820 — Assassination of the Due de Berry 
— The scene at the Opera-house — The Duke's last moments — The circumstances 
of the crime — Details about Louvel — His arrest — And trial — The Duchesse de 
Berry at Saint-Cloud and at the Pavilion Marsan — Her confinement — Birth of 
the Comte de Chambord — The witnesses — Death of Napoleon — The Spanish 
War — Oudinot, commanding the 1st Army Corps, makes an exclusively political 
campaign — Journey to Dieppe — Illness and death of Louis XVIII. 



viii CONTENTS 

PAGE 

CHAPTER X 372 

Visit to Jeand'heurs — Coronation of Charles X. — An epigram of M. de Corbieres 
— Impertinence of the Austrian Ambassador, who declines to give Oudinot 
the title of Duo de Reggio — Unpopularity of the Villele Ministry — Review of 
the National Guard — Manifestations against the Government — The National 
Guard is dissolved — The Duchesse de Berry's journey in the South — The Spanish 
Infant — Visit to the Grande-Chartreuse — The King of Naples — Symptoms of 
hostility to Charles X. — The Royal Guard reviewed by Oudinot — Fete at the 
Palais-Royal in honour of the Neapolitan Court — The King's blindness to the 
facts of the political situation — Opinions of Marshal Marmont — Fall of Charles 

X. Letter rom the Duchesse de Reggio to the Duchesse de Berry — The latter's 

reply — The Polignac trial — The Oudinot family retire to Bar-le-Duc — Arrest of 
the Duchesse de Berry — Generous offer of the Duchesse de Reggio— Heroic 
death of Colonel Augaste Oudinot in Algeria — The Marshal's despair— Marriage 
of Marshal Oudinot's daughter with the Comte de Vesins— Oudinot's illness- 
Letter from Louis Napoleon — Charles Oudinot — Marriage of the Marshal's 
second daughter with "M. Joseph Perron — Oudinot appointed Grand Chancellor 
of the Legion of Honour— And Governor of the Invalides— Death of Oudinot. 

CHAPTER XI 440 

Oudinot's funeral— A few words on the Duchesse de Reggio— Conclusion. 

APPENDIX 449 

INDEX 46s 



CHAPTER I 

Oudinot's family — His birth — His impetuous character — His military vocation 
— His first feat of arms — He suppresses a riot — His ascendancy over liis 
fellow-citizens — Appointed commandant of the 3rd Battalion of the 
Volunteers of the Meuse — War on the Rhine frontier — His first successes 
— Colonel at twenty-six — ^His men's affection for him — He stops the 
emigration of officers of noble birth — Success and wounds at Haguenau 
— General after the affair at Kaiserslautern — Leg broken at the siege of 
Treves — Receives five wounds at Neckerau — Charges at Ettenheim 
with his arm in a sling — The Swiss campaign — He is made a general of 
division — Arrival at the army cf his son Victor, aged eight — Oudinot's 
share in the victory of Zurich — Spares the emigrants at Constance 
with tact and generosity — Praise from Massena — Oudinot's firmness 
at the siege of Genoa — -Captures a gun at Monzembano — Enthusiasm of 
the inhabitants of Bar-le-Duc for their distinguished fellow-citizen — The 
camp at Boulogne — His devoted servant Pils. 

Nicolas Charles Oudinot sprang from the country 
of the Meuse, contiguous to Champagne and Lor- 
raine, which the proximity of the foreigner and the 
constant threat of invasion keep in a perpetual fer- 
vour of patriotism. He was the son of a respectable 
brewer, and his uncle on the mother's side was M. 
Adam, Mayor of Bar-le-Duc, his. native town. The 
house in which he was born, on the 25 th of April 
1767, is a dwelling of gloomy appearance, situated in 
the lower town, which contains the business quarters. 
The back of the house is washed by a canal which 
supplies the adjacent factories ; the front opens upon 



z MEMOIRS OF 

the foot of a steep slope on which are perched 
houses which, at the summit, spread out and form 
the aristocratic streets of the upper town. Before 
the door, commences a tough and difficult ascent, 
in which large steps have been cut : this is known 
as the Road of the Eighty Stairs. 

Younof Charles's childhood was boisterous and 
undisciplined. He was kind-hearted, affectionate, 
and sensible (in the phrase of those times) ; but 
even then he displayed signs of the fiery and com- 
manding character which he retained through life. 
His iron will, which gave him so invaluable a power 
of endurance and tenacity, was never ready to accept 
opposition or contradiction. 

Later, he himself used to relate, in his familiar 
conversation, a comic anecdote showing the im- 
petuousness of his nature. I repeat it in the words 
in which he told it ; it goes back to the spring 
of 1794. Hebert, the substitute of the Public Pro- 
secutor of the Commune, had ascended the scaftbld 
on the 24th of March. His ideas found litde favour 
in the eyes of Oudinot, who, although in the service 
of the Republic, held moderate opinions. 

It was after my wound at liaguenau, said the Marshal. 
I returned from the army with a broken head, kept together 
only by the bandages, which almost blinded me. I was 



MARSHAL OUDINOT 3 

then Colonel of the 4th Demi-Brigade, and was home on 
sick-leave, which I was spending with my father. One day 
there sat down to table with us a sort of relation. He 
came from Paris, where, I believe, he was something in 
business. He straightway began to talk politics. I did 
not say a word, but ate as one eats when he has been 
shattered. Our Parisian went on exalting the revolu- 
tionary Commune, and telling a thousand horrors, until he 
began to boast of preserving as a relic a portion of Hebert's 
slipper. I continued silent, munching the bit of my indig- 
nation, but feeling my patience growing exhausted little by 
little. At last they put upon the table a great deep dish 
full of steaming haricot beans. It was as though I had 
received an inspiration : I put out my hand, took up the 
dish, and whoosh ! sent the platterful of beans flying into 
the face of the friend of Hebert. I leave you to imagine 
what my father, most hospitable of men, must have thought ! 
As for the Parisian, he got up and went out to wash his 
face. 

This v^armth of temper was not to decrease with 
advancing years. Eleven years later, in July 1 805, at 
the camp at Boulogne, the Emperor was reviewing 
the Grenadiers, commanded by Oudinot. When the 
manoeuvres were completed, the General wished to 
march past Napoleon at the head of his troops. But 
his charger kicked under the spur, and refused to go 
forward. After a short struggle, Oudinot, in his 



4 MEMOIRS OF 

exasperation, pierced its neck so violently with his 
sword that the restive brute fell in a heap to the 
ground. At dinner that night, at the Imperial 
table : 

"Is that the way you treat your horses?" asked 
Napoleon. 

" Sire, that is my way when I am not obeyed." 

A nature so impetuous was incapable of enduring 
the sedentary existence which the young man's 
mother would have wished to see him lead by her 
side, a desire the more easily understood since 
Charles was the last survivor of her many children. 
He was intended for trade. But he had scarcely 
reached his seventeenth year when his irresistible 
call came, and in 1784 he enlisted in the regiment 
of Medoc- Infantry, then garrisoned at Perpignan. 
He was fond of describing how he had mounted his 
first guard at the door of Marshal de Mailly. But 
after this separation, so painful to those who loved 
him, his affectionate deference to the solicitations of 
his mother brought him home again. 

Oudinot was twenty when, for a time, he laid aside 
his uniform. His parents, still cherishing their 
dream of honest trade for him, sent him to Nancy in 
the hope that he would get used to business. But, 
unable to adapt himself to unsympathetic work, he 



MARSHAL OUDINOT 5 

returned to Bar, where the first advent of the 
Revolution soon gave him an opportunity of dis- 
tinguishing himself. A company of paid troops, 
raised in that town in 1789, placed the former 
private in the Medoc Regiment at its head, with 
the rank of captain (14 July), and the new officer 
proved within a few days, by his decision and 
energy, how worthy he was of the choice. 

Long privations, caused by two successive bad 
harvests, had cruelly harassed the population of 
Bar : the workshops were closed for want of work ; 
there was a lack of provisions ; food was hard to 
obtain at any price. A rich corn merchant called 
Pelissier, who was regarded as a monopolist, was 
held responsible for all the evil, and soon became 
the object of popular vengeance. Crossing the 
square in the upper town amid an excited and 
discontented crowd, he was suddenly threatened, 
assailed, and dragged off by a thousand arms. 
The clamours reached Oudinot, who was sitting 
quietly in his father's house in the lower town, far 
removed from and ignorant of the fray. In a 
moment he was in the saddle ; spurring his horse, 
and at the risk of breaking his neck, he climbed at 
a gallop the Road of the Eighty Stairs facing his 
house and leading to the upper town, where there 



6 MEMOIRS OF 

was a danger to encounter and a human life to save. 
Although taking the shortest road, he came too late 
to prevent the murder of Pelissier ; but he silenced 
the ringleaders by die firmness of his attitude and 
language, and appeased the crowd ; and his inter- 
vention, by stopping the riot, doubtless prevented 
greater misfortunes {27 July). 

Two months later, with that firm confidence 
which he had in the future, Captain Oudinot, al- 
though scarcely twenty-two years old, not rich, and 
far from foreseeing his dazzling future, married Mile. 
Charlotte Derlin, who, possessed of no fortune, dis- 
played a disinterestedness equal to his owii, gave 
him twenty years of happiness, and became the 
mother of many children. We shall see later how 
the sons distino-uished themselves in their father's 

o 

career. 

Each year brought Oudinot a fresh mark of the 
growing esteem in which he was held by his fellow- 
citizens. On the 6th of November 1 790, he was 
made chef de Legion, commanding the National Guard 
of the department. Later, when patriots sprang 
from every side to respond to the foreign threats 
against France, it was to him again that eyes were 
turned. Elected to the command of the 3rd Hal- 
lalion of the Volunteers o'i llic Meuse (6 Sep- 



MARSHAL OUDINOT 7 

tember 1791), he soon won the affection of his 
men by his respect for justice and his kindly rule. 
Living in their midst, teaching them by his example, 
he succeeded in disciplining their courage, in ani- 
mating them with the soldierly spirit with which he 
was impregnated, and in thoroughly preparing them 
for the gigantic combats that were to follow. 

1792 ! The hour struck when the fruits of this 
care and foresight were to be garnered. The old 
world swooped down to crush the world that was 
springing into existence : the Prussians and Austrlans, 
the van-guard and delegates of the rest of Europe, 
fell upon France : every patriot was on foot to resist 
them. The 3rd Battalion of the Meuse was sent to 
one of the most threatened points, the North-East 
frontier. Then commenced for Oudinot the intoxi- 
cating and terrible life that he adored, a life of ab- 
negation, of cruel anguish and of exquisite joys, 
wherein he spent the exuberance of his activity. 
For three years on end, winter and summer, he 
waged war between the Moselle and the Rhine, in 
the plains of Alsace or the wild region of the Vosges, 
wherever the fight was thickest, tossed from danger 
to danger, disputing the ground foot by foot, ad- 
vancing or retreating through precipitous mountain 
passes, victor and vanquished turn by turn, seizing 



8 MEMOIRS OF 

Luxemburg and the Palatinate only to lose them 
again, alas ! but only losing them to recapture them, 
and to recapture them once more, always keeping his 
men in hand and bringing them up to time, despi- 
sing the party-cries that divide politicians, forgetting 
e\'erything so that he might keep before his mind the 
great image of his country, and only returning to 
embrace his wife and his first-born in its cradle at 
rare intervals, when too serious a wound had made 
the sword drop from his crippled hand. And as 
he was in this his apprenticeship in war, so was 
he to remain throughout the course of his stormy 
career. 

It is difficult to follow our hero step by step 
during the early part of these campaigns ; neverthe- 
less, we can mention the most important combats, 
gleaned from the records of the 3rd Battalion of the 
Meuse in the archives of the Ministry of War. 

On the 25th of December 1792, the 3rd Battalion 
was under fire at Vaverenne, near Treves. On the 
9th of June 1793, it entered victorious into Arlon. 
On the 20th of September, it masked the town of 
Bitche, pursued the enemy, and harassed their 
retreat. On that day began for Oudinot the long 
series of wounds which were to stamp his sturdy 
frame with a net-work t)f scars : he received a sword- 



MARSHAL OUDINOT 9 

wound in the head. A month later, he revenged 
himself by a success at Saverne and encamped 
himself the next day in front of that town, at the 
foot of the hills, at Saint-Jean-des-Choux. 

Conduct so valiant could not fail to draw attention 
to the young officer. A fortnight after, he was ap- 
pointed colonel and placed in command of the 4th 
Demi-Brigade, which had just been enrolled out of 
one of the most brilliant factors of the old army, 
the Picardy Regiment. His companions in arms of 
the 3rd Battalion of the Meuse took leave of him 
with keen regret, of which valuable evidence remains 
in the shape of twelve addresses, all spontaneous, 
and drawn up by the soldiers in the ingenuous, 
turgid style of the period. With an inversion very 
characteristic of democracy, it was the subordinates 
who gave certificates to their superior officer. Here 
is a specimen which is touching in its undeniable 
accents of sincerity : 

Army of the Rhine, 3rd Battalion, 4th Demi-brigade. 
If to combine the courage of a soldier with the talents 
of a leader, the love of one's country and one's duty with 
an inveterate hatred of kings and tyranny, a constant pro- 
fession of the purest principles with the practice of re- 
publican virtues, constitutes a claim to the gratitude of all 
good Republicans, the Grenadiers of the 3rd Battalion of 



lo MEMOIRS OF 

he 4th Demi-Brigade of infantry bear witness that no one 
has a greater title to the regrets of his brothers-in-arms and 
the esteem of his fellow-citizens than Citizen Oudinot, their 
cliief ; that during the twenty-seven months he has been at 
their head, he has justified their choice and the expecta- 
tions of the country ; and that, while reigning over their 
hearts, the authority confided to him by the law has grown 
daily in his hands through the ascendancy which he derived 
from his proved intrepidity, his calm valour in the midst 
of danger, and all the qualities which endear an officer to 
his soldiers and make him precious in the eyes of the 
Republic. 

At the bivouac, on the heights of Saint-Jean-des-Choux, the 5th of 
November, Year II of the One and Indivisible Republic. 

But very different was the spirit which animated 
the new^ officers subordinate to Oudinot, those of the 
Picardy Regiment, noblemen by birth and strongly 
attached to their recollections of former times. 
They felt aggrieved at serving under a colonel of 
modest parentage, a leader whose merits they had 
not yet learned to appreciate. A dull feeling of dis- 
content spread among them, and a number threatened 
to emigrate, as so many of their friends had already 
done. Warned of this hostility to his person, Oudi- 
not sent for all the officers, and addressed them in 
these concise and manly terms : 

" Gentlemen, is it because I do not bear an old 



MARSHAL OUDINOT ii 

name that you propose to desert me and to return 
to your former titled chiefs ? Or do you think that 
I am too young to command you ? Wait till the 
next engagement, and you shall judge for yourselves. 
If you then think that I bear myself badly under 
fire, I promise to hand over my command to the 
worthiest among you." 

Need we say that, after the fight, none thought of 
repudiating a colonel so brave and already so ex- 
perienced, in spite of his six and twenty years ? 

One day, in his old age, when he was relating this 
anecdote, some one remarked how he must have 
loved these brave men, who had been able so 
quickly to stifle their prejudices, and who had so 
fully given him their hearts. " Ah, you asked me 
if I loved them ! " he exclaimed, eagerly. " I should 
think I did love them ! I got them all killed ! " 
To his mind the most enviable ending for a true 
soldier was a glorious death on the battle-field. 

On the 27th of November, In the course of an 
offensive movement on the part of the army of the 
Rhine, with the object of recapturing the lines of 
Wissembourg, a hot engagement took place In the 
woods surrounding Haguenau. Oudinot, who was 
fulfilling ad interim the functions of general, received 
a bullet in the head. The wound was so serious that 



12 MEMOIRS OF 

three months later it had not yet healed, and Colonel 
Oudinot was compelled to go home to his family at 
Bar-le-Duc on sick-leave (24 February 1794). 

He returned a little later, in time to save a division 
of the army of the Vosges, which, under the orders 
of General Ambert, was encamped at Kaisers- 
lautern and connected our lines on the Moselle 
with those on the Rhine. It had been found neces- 
sary to weaken Kaiserslautern in order to reinforce 
the army of Sambre-et-Meuse ; and Field-Marshal 
MoUendorf, taking advantage of this weakness, at- 
tacked this point with a superior force. We were 
obliged to give way. But Oudinot, who occupied 
the centre of the position at Morlautern, conducted 
the retreat so energetically, and led the rear-guard 
so surely through woods, gorges and defiles, that 
our soldiers were able to fall back in good order 
upon Pirmasens, where they established themselves 
firmly (2 June). It was there that the repre- 
sentatives of the people, a few days later, appointed 
him brigadier-general, in reward for this signal 
service. He was twenty- seven years of age. 

Meanwhile, our armies were victorious in Holland 
and Luxemburg, and the honourable check en- 
countered at Kaiserslautern was not enouofh to 
reduce us to the defensive. The corps to which 



MARSHAL OUDINOT 



13 



Oudinot was attached was directed upon Treves. But 
hardly had they come upon that place, when the young 
general fell from his horse, while leading a victorious 
charge against the enemy ( 1 1 August). The fall 
was so heavy as to break his leg. The fracture 
was very serious ; the surgeons doubted whether it 
could ever be quite cured ; and he beheld himself, in 
despair, removed, perhaps for ever, from active 
service. So soon as he was able to stand up, he 
was appointed Governor of the city he had helped 
to conquer. But his enfeebled condition did not 
even permit him to fulfil this sedentary office. In 
January 1795 he was obliged, as in the preceding 
year, to apply for sick leave. The following hand- 
some certificate was handed him by one who was a 
good judge of men, General Moreau : 

A brave soldier, has great firmness, is possessed of a 
pure and well-proved patriotism, and fulfils the duties of 
his grade with zeal, intelligence, and distinction. 

Moreau, 
General commanding the Army of the Moselle. 

25 Nivose, Year III (January 1795). 

When Oudinot returned, after six months of 
wearying inaction, he had the satisfaction to find 
our troops victorious on every hand and masters of 
the left bank of the Rhine. He took up his post 



14 MEMOIRS OF 

with Pichegru, who was preparing to cross the river. 
This operation took place on the 20th of September, 
before Manheim, which surrendered. But the 
absence of harmony in the movements of the 
different armies impeded our progress in that direc- 
tion. The enemy attacked us to their advantage, 
on the night of the i8th of October, at Neckerau, 
where General Oudinot received five sword-strokes 
and was left lying on the field. The Austrians 
raised his blood-covered body with respect. 

After a captivity of three months, which he under- 
went at Ulm, Oudinot was exchanged against Major- 
General Zainiau, who had been taken prisoner at 
Heidelberg. The treatment of his wounds com- 
pelled him to seek several months of repose, and 
when he returned to active service he was so weak 
that they would only give him the command of the 
fortified place of Phalsbourg (2 June 1796). But 
his talents were not made to remain hidden in this 
obscure post. Never satiated nor discouraged, his 
ardour thirsted for the fight, for danger, for glory. 
The occasion was favourable to him. Our armies 
had invaded Germany. He begged permission to 
hasten to the battle-fields, and early in July he re- 
ceived leave to join Morcau, who had crossed the 
Rhine and was marching up the valley of the 



MARSHAL OUDINOT 



15 



Necker. The army had entered Bavaria. Oudinot, 
after occupying Nordlingen, Donauwert and Neu- 
burg, was instructed to invest Ingolstadt, on 
the Danube. Attacked during the investment by 
General Latour, and obliged to replace his chief 
Delmas, who was wounded at the commencement 
of the action, he withstood the attack at Neuburg 
for more than six hours with unflinching resolution : 
a bullet in the thigh, three sword-cuts in the neck 
and a fourth on the arm were scarcely able to tear 
him from the field (14 September). 

After a month's nursing, and still covered with con- 
tusions, he returned in time to assist Moreau in his 
glorious retreat, which is celebrated as equal to a 
victory. At Ettenheim, men wondered to see him 
charge the enemy with his arm in a sling, and force 
them to fall back. Then, after again passing, at 
Brissach, that deceptive line of the Rhine which we 
were always crossing without ever remaining masters 
of both banks, he crossed Alsace with crushing 
speed, masked Landau, recaptured the defences of 
Queich and Spirebach, reconquered the Palatinate, 
in which he had already so greatly distinguished 
himself in former years, and pushed on to Oggers- 
heim, opposite Manheim. There he completely 
defeated the Austrians in the battle of the 7th of 



1 6 MEMOIRS OF 

November, which permitted him to winter at Grun- 
stadt, in the heart of the country, where he remained 
during the year 1797. 

Surely a marvellous military career ! One can 
picture nothing finer than this commander always 
in the front rank, risking his life in the mUde, never 
intimidated, flying to wherever the danger was 
thickest, venturing into hand-to-hand conflicts at 
the sword's point, and purchasing his steps with 
the blood from his wounds. And yet these wounds, 
which placed him so high in the general estimation, 
were bound on the other hand to delay his advance- 
ment. They removed him for long periods from 
his command ; he seemed, so to speak, to appear 
only to vanish again from the battle-field, and the 
army was too often deprived of his services. Had 
he been less unlucky under fire, and able to 
lead his men continuously, he would perhaps more 
speedily, if not with more brilliancy, have attained 
the supreme rank which he w^as only to receive very 
late and in times of disaster. 

At last, the Italian campaign and the Treaty of 
Campo-Formio put a stop, at least temporarily, to 
the war ; but a secret convention of the Congress of 
Rastadt having granted us Mayence and the head 
of the Bridge of Manheim, on condition that we 



MARSHAL OUDINOT i-j 

should seize it by force, Oudinot was charged with 
the execution of this stroke upon ground so familiar 
to him, a commission of which he satisfactorily ac- 
quitted himself (25 January 1798). 

It seems as though such success through six years 
of fighting should have earned us peace, under the 
shelter of that belt of the Rhine now become inviol- 
able ; but British jealousy refused to recognize our 
extension of territory, and the Directory, in order to 
strike a blow at a constantly hostile influence, pre- 
pared to invade Great Britain. Oudinot was sent 
to the army which was being organised in Normandy, 
and arrived at Coutances in March. His stay was 
as short as the dream, no sooner imagined than 
effaced, of that famous descent He soon returned 
to Mayence, and remained on the look-out before 
our questionable neighbours. 

The truce did not last long, and this time there 
marched against us, from the depths of Europe, 
enemies hitherto unknown. At the end of 1798, 
Oudinot was ordered to proceed, under Massena's 
command, to Switzerland, where, in the course of 
the following spring, the greater part of this gigantic 
campaign was to be enacted. The Army of Helvetia, 
which had boldly advanced to the eastern shore of 
Lake Constance, attempted to join hands with Jour- 



1 8 MEMOIRS OF 

dan, who was eno:aofed on the Danube. In order to 
effect this junction, it was necessary to open up a 
passage straight through the Vorarlberg, past Feld- 
kirch, a sort of narrow, marshy and ahiiost impractic- 
able gorge, sunk in the breast of the most rugged 
mountains on either side of the current of the 111. 
It was to Oudinot's imperturbable devotion that this 
thankless task was confided. 

On the 6th of March 1799, he attacked, made 
six hundred prisoners, and all but passed. On 
the 15th, he again delivered a fruitless assault. 
On the 23rd, he succeeded in fording the 111, 
advanced over that frightful ground, in spite of a 
hail-storm of bullets, grape, and round shot, in spite 
of the rocks which the peasants rolled like avalanches 
from the mountain-tops ; but he lost three thousand 
men before his obstinacy could make any impression 
upon those impregnable rocks. 

Massena saw all the advantage to be gained from 
a man of this extraordinary energy ; he made him a 
general of division, and soon after appointed him 
chief of staff 

But it was not possible to keep the offensive, at 
least for the time. The army entrenched itself in 
a strong position behind the river Limmat, which 
issues from the Lake of Zurich, and showed that it 



MARSHAL OUniNOT 19 

did not mean to allow Itself to be easily dislodged 
from this line of defence. This was proved by 
the engagements of the 24th of May and 4th of 
June, in which General Oudinot took a glorious 
part. In the latter he was struck by a ball in 
the chest. 

It was at this time that the Army of Helvetia was 
enforced by the arrival of an unexpected recruit. 
Oudinot had a son, quite a young child, who was 
always in his thoughts. In order to inure him to 
the hardships of war, and to train him to the service 
of his country, he thought he could not do better 
than give him his own example and that of his 
soldiers, and allow him to mingle in the camp duties 
and the fortunes of the battle-field. Young Victor, 
destined himself one day to become General Oudinot, 
to capture Rome and re-establish the Papal power, 
was noted for the Corps of Guides in June 1799, 
although he had not yet completed his eighth year. 
Mounted on a pony, he gravely went through his 
duties, with a droll and attractive rigidity ; and 
though occasionally interrupting this severe school- 
ing in order to play at marbles with bullets, he 
hardened his little body and tempered his spirit in 
these terrific combats, to the echo of the cannon 
reverberating through the Alps. 



20 MEMOIRS OF 

On the 14th of August, at Schwitz, Oudinot 
stopped the Austrians and their peasant levies, 
who were threatening to turn our rear while we 
were making head to the Russians ; and on charg- 
ing at the head of a regiment of Dragoons, he 
received a bullet in the shoulder. 

Meanwhile, the position of the army became daily 
more critical. Inferior in numbers, threatened on 
the north by the Russians under Korsakoff, on the 
east by the Austrians under Hotze, and on the 
south by the Russians under Souwaroff, it became 
necessary to burst through this iron girdle, which 
every day drew closer around it. Massena first 
attacked Korsakoff, who was on the right bank of 
the Limmat, and occupied Zurich. He entrusted to 
Oudinot, who was in command of a corps of fifteen 
thousand men, the task of crossing the river, swarm- 
ing up the right bank, and surrounding the town. 
So well did Oudinot take his measures, so prompt 
and secret were his movements, that he broke up 
the camp at Houg, forestalled the Russians on the 
road to Winterthur, which was ardently disputed, 
and succeeded in cutting off their retreat. Then, 
next day, he returned on his steps, and after a 
terrible combat, although receiving a bullet in his 
chest, he took Zurich by storm, and there rejoined 



MARSHAL OUDINOT n 

his general-in-chief. Korsakoff was fiivirushed (26 
September). 

A fortnight later Oudinot made himself master of 
Constance, which was defended not only by the 
Austrians, but also by the French emigrants, the 
last remnants of Condi's army. This event gave 
him an opportunity to display that greatness of heart 
and that spirit of moderation and clemency which so 
happily tempered his hot-headed character. 

The emigrants, who had been taken prisoners to 
the number of about two hundred, expected to be 
shot as traitors to their country, as others had been 
before them, especially in the early days of the 
Revolution. So little hope had they of mercy, 
that one of them, addressing Urbain, one of the 
aides-de-camp, said : 

*' Before I am put to death, I should like to make 
a request of the Prince de Conde." 

Urbain, who knew his chief, flew into a rage : 

** For what do you take my general, monsieur ? " 
he cried. " Do you think it is his custom to massacre 
his prisoners ? " 

Certainly, it was impossible for a patriot like 
Oudinot to love Frenchmen who had taken up arms 
against France, and he had shown his feelings some 
years before when he kept back the officers of the 



MEMOIRS OF 

Picardy Rl'' ment. Nevertheless, he was not con- 
tented on this occasion to spare the Hves of the 
offenders : he had the further generosity to wish to 
save them from the punishments in store for them 
if they returned to their country. It was im- 
possible to release them openly. He determined 
to wink at their escape, and sent them to Massena 
under an inadequate escort. Almost all availed 
themselves of this chance, straggled on the road, 
and found means to escape. The General-in- 
Chief employed the same artifice in sending those 
who reached him to Besancon, and when the 
soldiers arrived at their destination, they came 
empty-handed. 

This Swiss campaign, which saved France from 
an invasion, is the most memorable of those in 
which Oudinot had taken part to the time which 
this narrative has reached. Massena wrote in his 
report to the Directory : 

I owe the greatest praise to General Oudinot, my chief 
of staff, who knows how to apply his fiery energy to clerical 
labour, but whom I am always glad to have back on the 
battle-field. He has followed me in everything, and has 
made a perfect second in command. 



He also wrote Oudinot the following letter : 



MARSHAL OUDINOT 

Head-quarters, Zurich, 9 Brumaire, 
(31 October 1799). 

The Executive of the Directory has expressea che 
Army of the Danube, in its letter of the 22nd of Vend, niaire 
last, the recognition of the public, and its private satisfac- 
tion, at the Army's glorious achievements from the 3rd to 
the 1 8th of the same month. The Directory has also been 
pleased to extend its notice to those who have so bravely 
contributed to them. 

How eagerly I seize this opportunity, my dear general, 
to refer once more to the energy, bravery and intelligence 
with which you have seconded me, not on one occasion 
only : you were everywhere. Accept at once the assur- 
ance of the public recognition, of the satisfaction of the 
Government, and of my personal esteem and attachment. 
I feel sure that you will consider this the most gratifying 
reward for your invaluable services. 

With friendly greetings, 

Mass£na. 

After a leave of five months, necessary for the 
cure of his numerous wounds, Oudinot rejoined the 
Army of Liguria under the orders of Massena, who 
wished again to make sure of his " invaluable 
services " as chief of staff. This time the task set 
him was a very difficult one, and unattended by 
much hope of victory. He was to immure himself 
in Genoa, so as to keep idle around him a proportion 



MEMOIRS OF 

otrian forces, and thus enable the young 
1 France, Bonaparte, now First Consul, to 
hi^ le thunderbolt of Marengo. It was a work of 
si. ^i? self-sacrifice. 

The small French division was bottled up in the 
fortress on the 6th of April 1800, between the 
Austrian troops, who crowned the mountains, and 
the British squadron, which blockaded the port. 
It would not be possible to describe here in detail 
this famous siege, with its sorties, its incessant 
combats, the sufferings of the inhabitants, the riots 
of women, the endurance of the soldiers, the famine, 
the necessity of eating uneatable things, herbs, 
unclean beasts, and, under the illusive name of 
bread, a mysterious compound of starch, linseed 
and cocoa. 

Oudinot distinguished himself among the most 
indefatigable. He even risked leaving the city, 
under the most venturesome conditions, to eo him- 
self in search of news of General Suchet, who was 
engaged on the Var, and to carry him his orders. 
On the 16th of May, a bark, commanded by a 
corsair called Bavastro, bore him boldly through the 
English fleet, risking, a hundred times, capture or 
destruction. In spite of all, he got ashore at Finale, 
accomplished his errand, and rclurncd to Genoa to 



V 



MARSHAL OUDINOT 25 

resume, amid his companions, his post of want and 
famine. 

An episode related by Oudinot himself describes 
the horrible situation of the city : 

We made three thousand prisoners at the time when 
the famine was raging at its worst. I took the orders 
of the General-in-Chief, and wrote to General 'Ott, who 
commanded the hostile army, describing the condition 
in which his men would be in consequence of our own 
predicament. The Austrian replied that, as the town was 
shortly about to be captured, the prisoners would not have 
time to starve. 

The famine grew more and more oppressive. I wrote 
again, and during six weeks, each of my renewed messages 
received the same reply. At the end of that time, not a 
single prisoner was left alive : the poor wretches, im- 
prisoned in a ship at anchor, had begun by eating the 
rigging and their shirts, and ended by eating one another. 

We ourselves were reduced to such a state of distress 
that our soldiers were glad to eat the straw of the hospitals. 
Soon this last resource gave out, and we were only able 
to keep up our strength by drinking the generous wines 
which we discovered in quantities in the cellars of the 
town. One saw sentinels, unable to hold themselves erect, 
mounting guard seated in gilt arm-chairs, and drinking 
claret in their misery. 

In 1815, when I met the Emperor of Austria, I learnt 
from his lips that the disaster of these three thousand men 



26 MEMOIRS OF 

had been turned against me. I then informed him of the 
truth, and offered to let him verify the facts from my 
letter-books. The Emperor refused to examine them and 

accepted my word. 

In the end, lest he should undergo the same 
fate, Massena had to resolve to evacuate the town. 
Famished, reduced by half, but still terrible, the 
soldiers, or rather their ghosts, issued proudly 
forth, and retained their freedom. They made use 
of this to rejoin Suchet's army. 

Ten days later, the victory of Marengo having 
led to an armistice, Oudinot went to Bar-le-Duc to 
restore his health shattered by so many trials, re- 
turning to his post in Italy, under the orders of 
Brune, in November, at the commencement of 
hostilities. 

The army advanced eastwards across Lombardy, 
driving the Austrians before them, who entrenched 
themselves on the left bank of the Mincio in order 
to dispute its passage. The attack was delivered 
upon two points, first at Pozzolo, and the next day 
at Monzembano (26 December). It was there 
that Oudinot, seeing one of the enemy's batteries 
crushing our troops from the top of an eminence 
and paralyzing the movement, collected some Chas- 
seurs of the 14th Regiment, rushed with them upon 



MARSHAL OUDINOT 27 

the bridge, crossed it, leapt upon the Austrians, 
overturned them, drove them to flight, himself took 
possession of a gun, and by this bold exploit en- 
abled Boudet's division to come up, thus assuring 
the success of a manoeuvre the issue of which had 
till then remained uncertain. 

On the 30th of December, Brune wrote to the 

First Consul : 

» 

General Oudinot has sabred the enemy's gunners at 
their pieces. Would you not think it right to bestow 
some honourable distinction on him 1 

In the sequel, Oudinot, when sent to Paris with 
the text of the armistice signed by the belligerents 
on the i6th of January 1801, was received in the 
most flattering manner by Bonaparte, who pre- 
sented him with a sword of honour and with the 
piece of ordnance which he had so nobly carried 
off". 

During the years that followed, France, satiated 
with battle and military glory, hoped to enjoy a 
lasting peace. Oudinot was appointed inspector of 
infantry, and then inspector of cavalry, and was able 
at intervals to seek rest at home, without being 
driven to do so by the care of his wounds. In 1802 
he lost his mother, and in the same year he began 



28 MEMOIRS OF 

his political career, and was elected by his fellow- 
citizens to the presidency of the electoral college 
of the IMeuse. 

The formation of the camp at Boulogne gave him 
the command of a corps, under the orders of his 
old friend General Davout. He assisted for the 
second time in the preparations for that chimerical 
descent upon England, the idea of which carried 
away Napoleon as it had before seduced Hoche and 
the Directory. Tw^o years of hard work were spent 
in the organization of infinite details, to which his 
versatile intellect lent itself as readily as to the 
leading of men under fire. 

It is here that we first meet with a person of 
modest condition, Oudinot's valet-de-chambre, who 
deserves mention because of his extraordinary de- 
votion to his master, the fidelity with which he 
followed him through all his campaigns, and the 
Memoirs which he left behind him, memoirs of no 
literary value, but sincere and refreshing in their 
very simplicity. This worthy man, Pils by name, 
was an Alsacian. Oudinot met the lad in camp, 
took an interest in him, and attached him to his 
person. He followed the General wherever he 
went, even under fire ; and as he had no business 
there, he concealed himself as much as possible, 



MARSHAL OUDINOT 29 

slipping in among the officers of the staff, for fear of 
a scolding. 

One day, Pils, who had ventured out as usual, 
in spite of his master's orders, had his horse killed 
under him. Oudinot saw in this circumstance the 
occasion for a peremptory argument which would for 
good prevent his servant from exposing himself. 

" You see you are killing my horses," he said, with 
apparent roughness. " I forbid you positively to 
return." 

In the next battle, the incorrigible Pils was 
behind his master. 

" I thought I had forbidden you to come back ! " 

" Oh, general, I don't deserve any reproaches ; 
the horse belongs to me : I bought it out of my 
savings ! " 

Pils, for that matter, had a mission in life : he 
knew that "the Governor,"^ as Oudinot was affec- 
tionately called by his officers, was almost regularly 
wounded in every engagement, and Pils made It his 
business to carry a case of Instruments, so as to be 
able to apply the first dressings at once. On the 
other hand, as he had a great natural taste for 
drawing, he liked to plant himself in a corner of the 
battle-field, take from his pocket a note-booJc and 

1 " Le Patron:'— A.. T. DE M. 



30 MEMOIRS OF MARSHAL OUDINOT 

pencil, and calmly sketch the scene of action and the 
action itself with ingenuous awkwardness but striking 
precision. When peace was made, Pils endeavoured 
to commence his artistic education ; he was admitted 
to Horace Vernet's studio, but was never able to 
learn the first elements of art, or to achieve correct- 
ness of drawing. 

However, .he transmitted more easily cultivated 
natural o-ifts to his son — Isidore Pils — whose well- 
known picture, " Rouget de I'lsle for the first time 
declaiming the Marseillaise," has been so often 
reproduced. Isidore papered the walls of his studio 
with his father's daubs, and either in comparison of 
their quick spontaneity with his own somewhat frigid 
art, or from respectful piety, used to say : 

" My father was more of a painter than I." 



CHAPTER II 



The first Austrian campaign — Oudinot Commander-in-Chief of the Grenadiers 
— Oudinot at Wertingen — His success at Amstetten — He participates in 
the capture of the Thabor-Briicke^His heroism at the sanguinary victory 
of Hollabriinn — He shows himself as great an administrator as a soldier, 
and wins the affections of the people of Neuchatel — Their gratitude 
— He receives the freedom of Neuchatel — The Prussian and Polish 
campaigns — The Victory of Ostrolenka — Oudinot before Dantzig — Fresh 
victories over the Russians — His tenacity and his services at Friedland — He 
falls from his horse at Dantzig — He meets Mile, de Coucy — -The Coucy 
family — Its adventures during the Revolution — Robespierre the Younger 
— The Chanoinesse de Coucy — Life at Vitry-le-Fran9ois at the end of the 
eighteenth century^'M. Leclerc, Prefect of the Meuse — ^The Princesse 
Borghese's bath — Visit to Bar-le-Duc — Mile, de Coucy is constantly 
attracted by the name of Oudinot — The Comtesse Oudinot — General 
Oudinot's purchase of the estate of Jeand'heurs. 



Time passed by at the camp of Boulogne, the bad 
season approached, and the descent upon England 
became more and more perilous. Suddenly Napo- 
leon abandoned the idea, changed his plans, and 
hurled upon Central Europe the whole of the 
formidable machinery which he had been building 
up so laboriously during the past two years. Oudinot 
set out for Germany at brief notice (i6 August 
1805), proud at commanding the finest, most warlike 
and most famous troops in the army. He had been 
placed at the head of the Grenadiers whom Junot had 



32 MEMOIRS OF 

formed at Arras the year before. These consisted 
of carefully chosen veterans, proved in numerous 
campaigns, of tall stature, thoroughly disciplined, 
irreproachable in their drill, and embodying in 
their own persons the summit of the military spirit. 
They could be told at a distance by their imposing 
appearance as well as their new uniform : they had 
replaced the old-fashioned busby by the sober shako, 
and the long, powdered pig-tail by close-cropped 
hair. They reached Strasburg in September with 
their commander. 

The army advanced into Germany with such 
rapidity, mystery and suddenness that they were 
well into Bavaria before the Austrians suspected the 
direction they had taken. On the 7th of October, 
the advance corps, and Oudinot with them, were 
on the right bank of the Danube, ascending the 
stream in order to cut off Mack's retreat and im- 
prison him in Ulm. On the 8th, they encountered 
the Austrian advance posts at Wertigen ; the shock 
was an ardent one ; the enemy was pursued by our 
Dragoons, but retired in fighting order and con- 
centred upon a plateau in a solid mass, which our 
cavalry could not succeed in breaking through. 
Finally Murat attacked the front square, while the 
Grenadiers charged impetuously upon the llank. 



MARSHAL OUDINOT 33 

Everything yielded before them : two thousand 
prisoners, two flags and eleven guns were the result 
of the day's fighting. The campaign opened with a 
success in which Oudinot played a prominent part. 
The Grenadiers, in their enthusiasm, nicknamed him 
" their father." 

Ten days later, Mack was reduced to capitulating 
in Ulm, whence the Archduke Ferdinand escaped 
with difficulty with twenty thousand men. Murat 
and Oudinot, rushing in pursuit, harassed him 
incessantly to Nordlingen, and took twelve thousand 
prisoners. 

The Russians, who had not arrived in time to 
support Mack, hastily retired towards Vienna, pressed 
by Murat, Lannes and Oudinot, who joined their 
rear-guard upon the right bank of the Danube at 
Amstetten, on the border of Upper and Lower 
Austria (4 November). Thus Oudinot found him- 
self once more confronting the Russians, for the 
first time since the battle of Zurich, where he had 
crushed them six years previously. They were 
astride the Vienna road, their wings overrunning on 
either side into the forest. 

The following details of the operations are taken 
from a manuscript of Oudinot's : 

The division of the Grenadiers, unsupported by 



34 MEMOIRS OF 

artillery and preceded by its light cavalry and two 
hundred Carabineers, bore down upon Furnbach, 
where was a corps consisting of three Russian and 
Austrian battalions, who were forthwith attacked by 
the two hundred Carabineers alone, pending the 
arrival of the column. French pluck made up for 
deficiency in numbers. In spite of his obstinate re- 
sistance, the enemy was dislodged from this impor- 
tant position and retreated toward Strenberg. There 
the ground was disputed foot by foot and carried 
after three vieUes with the Russian Hussars, who 
were forced to yield once again before the valour of 
the Grenadiers. The hostile troops fell back upon 
the main Russian army, consisting of some twenty 
battalions drawn up under Bukaufen. This junction 
induced the enemy to take the offensive, and he 
began to manoeuvre upon our flanks. Soon General 
Dupas arrived with his brigade, and the engagement 
spread to all the troops. The enemy's artillery, 
which had not yet come into sight, began to make 
itself heard, and Dupas was charged by several 
masses of Russians. They were calmly received 
by his brigade, which withstood the shock and kept 
up a well-sustained fire. As night drew near, 
Oudinot felt the necessity for a fresh attack, and 
determined to move forward General Ruffin's 



MARSHAL OUDINOT 



35 



brigade, which, together with that commanded by 
Dupas, charged the enemy, overthrew him, and com- 
pelled him to leave the field in our possession. In 
this engagement the position was taken and re-taken 
three times at the point of the bayonet. The enemy 
received our several attacks with great resolution ; 
its own were pluckily delivered, but the courage of 
the Grenadiers prevailed. 

The fight at Amstetten was of great importance, 
not on account of the numbers engaged on either 
side, but because it cleared the road to Vienna, the 
enemy having abandoned the right bank of the 
Danube. Entrenched behind the powerful protec- 
tion of this mighty river, the Austro - Russians 
thought themselves in safety, and, in order com- 
pletely to separate themselves from us, had only to 
destroy the last bridge standing before the gates of 
the capital. This bridge, the Thabor-Brlicke, was 
built of wood, and spanned the principal arm of the 
river, on the further side of a group of small islands. 
It had been covered with fascines and powder- 
barrels, so that it might easily be set on fire at the 
slightest signal. Moreover, it was defended by 
some thousands of men, and by cannon on the left 
bank. 

Murat, Lannes and Oudinot, always in the van, 



36 



MEMOIRS OF 



were the first to enter Vienna. They very soon 
understood that neither strenoth nor couraoe would 
suffice to take this precious means of passage intact. 
Nevertheless, at about 1 1 o'clock in the morning of 
the 13th of November, the column of the Grenadiers, 
preceded by Murat and Lannes, noiselessly entered 
upon the labyrinth of islands, and easily reached 
the Thabor Bridge, which stretched its length before 
them. Lannes crossed it, accompanied by a few 
officers, reached the other side, asked to speak to 
Count von Auersberg, the commander of the Austrian 
forces, and endeavoured to persuade him that we 
were no longer at war with the Austrians, but only 
with the Russians, an assertion which the armistice 
demanded by Giulay rendered fairly probable. 
While the enemy's attention was diverted by these 
parleys, Oudinot and his Grenadiers advanced 
briskly upon the bridge, flinging into the water as they 
went all the inflammable material heaped up under 
the arches. The passage had already been three 
parts effected when the command to " Fire ! " rang 
out froni the Austrian side. A moment more, and 
the guns would have been discharged and the 
Grenadiers drowned beneath the sunken bridge. 
Lannes darted towards the gunners, argued widi 
them, persuaded them, and stopped them. Oudinot 



MARSHAL OUDINOT 



37 



and his men completed their crossing at the charge, 
sprang upon the left bank, and snatched the matches 
from the hands of the men who had been about to 
fire. 

The Thabor Bridge was saved, and the French 
themselves were the most surprised to find them- 
selves masters of it without having fired a shot, 
thanks to this sudden and perilous artifice, which 
served to display once more the imperturbable cool- 
ness of the Grenadiers and their leader. 

This obstacle overcome, the army marched north- 
wards, and came up with the Russians under Prince 
Bagration at Hollabriinn. Though it was winter, 
the battle commenced towards the close of daylight, 
at three o'clock in the afternoon. The shock was 
one of extraordinary severity, thanks to the tenacity 
displayed by both sides, the prolongation of the 
fighting into the closest darkness and the conse- 
quent confusion. 

A regiment of Grenadiers posted in front of the 
village of Schongraben, at three hundred paces from 
the Russians, hurled itself upon the latter after a 
heavy fire ; the Russians very coolly held their 
ground, and bayonets were crossed around the 
village, which was soon in flames, set on fire by the 
shells. A second regiment hastened up to support 



38 MEMOIRS OF 

the first, and overturned the enemy, who seemed to 
contemplate a turning movement on their right. In 
order to prevent this movement, and to endeavour to 
block the road to Znaim in the rear, two brigades 
groped forward in the darkness ; they got lost in 
a ground intersected with ravines, streamlets and 
marshes, and were forced to take an oblique direc- 
tion. Sebastiani's Dragoons, who led the way, 
struck upon a mass of infantry, without knowing if 
they were friends or foes. It was only by the light 
of a musket volley that they were seen to be Rus- 
sians. The French charged, made way through the 
enemy, and continued their march, without perceiving 
that they had left behind them a troop of the enemy, 
which revealed its presence with volleys of grape-shot. 
A fresh charge destroyed it, and robbed it of its 
cannon ; while the Grenadiers continued to advance, 
but without meeting any adversaries, and ventured 
into a village with dark, deserted and silent streets. 
This silence, which astonished them, caused them to 
scent an ambuscade ; they drew back and then re- 
turned, while the Russians, who had been lurking in 
the houses, suddenly rushed out, roaring like wild 
beasts, and striking furiously. It was impossible to 
fire in the scrimmage. The men knocked against 
shadowy forms, recognizable only when they spoke, 



MARSHAL OUDINOT 



39 



through the difference in language ; they threw them- 
selves upon one another with their side-arms ; they 
cut each other's throats without seeing one another, 
and the carnage did not cease until eleven at night. 
The ground remained with the Grenadiers, and 
the next morning, at daybreak, they counted six 
thousand nine hundred Russians killed, wounded 
or prisoners. Oudinot, who received a bullet in 
his thigh during the action, continued nevertheless 
to give his orders until the end (i6 November). 

He had to return to Vienna, by Napoleon's 
orders, to nurse his wound ; but two weeks later, 
knowing that a great decisive battle was imminent, 
he hastened to Moravia to resume his post. It was 
two days before Austerlitz. 

" Your courage is beyond your strength," said the 
Emperor to him. ** I shall give your Grenadiers to 
Duroc, and you can stay with me." 

In spite of these instructions, Oudinot was un- 
able to leave his dear troupe dUlite. Towards the 
close of the action, the Grenadiers vigorously sup- 
ported the attack upon the village of Kobelnitz and 
captured an important column of the enemy. 

A victory so complete necessarily entailed the 
conclusion of peace : a treaty was signed at Schon- 
brunn on the 15th of December, and the French 



40 MEMOIRS OF 

army, which had crossed the huge territory situated 
between the German Ocean and the confines of 
Hungary, without stopping except to fight, was at 
leneth able to breathe and to return home. It was 
a triumphant and yet painful march, in the middle of 
winter, across frozen plains and mountains covered 
with snow. Oudinot, though still in the convalescent 
stage, endured the journey with as much good- 
humour as energy, and arrived at Strasburg un- 
certain what his next command would be. He was 
not left lone in doubt. After no more than a fort- 
night's respite, the Emperor entrusted him with a 
very novel mission, half military and half civil, 
requiring tact and prudence, and a great sense of 
justice and conciliation. 

By a clause of the treaty of Schonbrunn, Prussia 
ceded the Principality of Neuchatel to the Emperor, 
who presented it to his chief of staff, Alexandre 
Berthier. Oudinot was ordered to occupy the 
country in the name of the latter. He set out 
with his Grenadiers at the end of winter, and 
crossed the Jura by roads so bad that it was 
necessary to clear them expressly for the artillery, 
and that sometimes as many as twelve horses were 
not sufficient to draw his carriage. At the last 
halting-place the latter broke down: he had to mount 



MARSHAL OUDINOT 41 

his horse, and the train did not reach the Chaux de 
Fonds until two o'clock in the morning. 

The next day, the i8th of March 1806, Oudinot 
made his state entry into the city of Neuchatel. 

The population of the country, attached to their 
former Princes by long custom, were hostile to the 
new-comers. The authorities observed a frigid and 
dignified attitude, but the towns-folk, alarmed at 
this military display, dreading the exactions too 
common among soldiers, and jealous of their cus- 
toms, laws and liberties, showed their mistrust by 
staying at home. 

The General had sufficient penetration to grasp 
this difficult situation, and sufficient nobility of heart 
to respect such natural sentiments. He reassured 
the citizens as to their rights, and guaranteed them 
against any arbitrary demands or taxes ; he left the 
administration of the police and of justice in their 
hands ; and he succeeded so well in respecting their 
lawful susceptibilities that their minds were, in a 
very short time, won over in favour of the French. 
One fortunate measure of tolerance assured the 
entire sympathy of their dispositions. Napoleon, in 
his eternal duel with England, had formally pro- 
hibited the purchase of English merchandise : wher- 
ever any British goods were introduced, they were 



42 MEMOIRS OF 

confiscated and ruthlessly burnt, and this meant ruin 
to the trade of the people of Neuchatel, who carried 
on a considerable commerce with Great Britain. 
Oudinot listened to their complaints with kindness, 
examined them, forwarded them to the Court of the 
Tuileries through the intermediary of Hutin, his 
aide-de-camp, and his credit was great enough to 
move his master's will and to obtain a modification 
of the Imperial rigour, which saved a number of 
fortunes. 

The gratitude of the inhabitants showed itself in 
his election to the honorary freedom of the city of 
Neuchatel, a privilege the more noteworthy inas- 
much as it involved the abrogation of a clause in 
the municipal constitution which formally denied all 
rights of citizenship to members of the Roman 
Catholic religion, to which Oudinot belonged. 

He left Neuchatel on the iSth of July, loaded 
with the blessings of the people. His stay in France 
was a short one. Napoleon recalled the Grenadiers, 
who had been dispersed, restored to them the chief 
under whom they had so greatly distinguished them- 
selves, and joined these picked troops to his own 
Guards. They went through the Prussian campaign 
and were present as reserves at the battle of Jena, 
but without taking part in the action. 



MARSHAL OUDINOT 43 

The end of the year was employed in the boldest 
march that had yet been attempted. We had no 
longer the Prussians only against us, but also the 
Russians, who had entered into an alliance with 
them. At the commencement of 1807 we were 
occupying Poland, and Oudinot was placed beyond 
Warsaw, at Ostrolenka, on the bank of the Narew, 
in the midst of an inhospitable country bristling 
with forests and swamped in marshes. Napoleon 
had given him this dangerous post so that he might 
cover his right wing while he himself went north 
and attacked Eastern Prussia and endeavoured to 
force the enemy into the Baltic, a result which the 
sanguinary battle of Eylau was far from producing. 

Almost at the same time, Oudinot was warned of 
an approaching attack of the Russians, who were 
threatening Warsaw from both banks of the Narew. 
His constant, restless vigilance saved him from a 
surprise ; for, on going his rounds of inspection, he 
found his sentries grown torpid with the cold and 
slumbering under the Russian muskets. The action 
began the next morning (15 February) at daybreak 
with a very lively discharge of artillery, followed by 
an engagement between the enemy's infantry, which 
wanted to enter Ostrolenka, and a brigade of 
Grenadiers commanded by General Ruffin, who 



44 MEMOIRS OF 

was entrenched behind die churchyard firing 
grape-shot. Campana's brig-ade, which was on the 
other bank of the Narew, crossed the bridge to 
lend assistance, when its chief was cut in two by a 
cannon-ball. In spite of this loss, the two brigades 
were able to join forces and to drive out the 
Russians, w^ho were already penetrating into the 
streets of Ostrolenka. Oudinot and Suchet arrived 
in person ; the first at the head of the cavalry led a 
most brilliant charge, which completed the victory : 
two thousand five hundred Russians were left on 
the field of battle, and we took two flao-s and 
seven cruns. 

o 

This long and arduous Polish campaign seems, 
when one remembers the distance of its basis of 
operations, the nature of the ground, the resistance 
of the enemy and the difficulties of every kind, to 
have been as it were a prelude to the fatal Russian 
war. 

Meanwhile, the Emperor, annoyed at not having 
yet put an end to the war, felt the need of reducing 
the extent of his lines and of better assuring the 
safety of his rear, while retaining his hold upon 
Warsaw. He concentrated his army upon the 
Lower Vistula, recalled Oudinot to Ostorode, in 
Eastern Prussia, and ordered Marshal Lefebvre to 



MARSHAL OUDINOT 45 

lay siege to Dantzig. The place was strongly forti- 
fied and well defended ; the work of the besiegers 
proceeded slowly ; the French were few in number. 
After more than one arduous conflict, which led to no 
immediate result, Lefebvre asked for reinforcements, 
and Oudinot was sent to his assistance with the 
Grenadiers. He arrived on the 3rd of May and set 
up his head-quarters at Langfurt. 

On the 14th the Russians attempted a sortie; it 
was little more than an alarm. But Oudinot, always 
disdainful of danger, once more played the common 
soldier : he pushed forward with his officers, and 
on entering a little wood, he suddenly saw a Russian 
non-commissioned officer spring from behind a tree, 
and, with a thrust of his bayonet, pierce the breast 
of Colonel Magnac : the General ran up to him, and 
killed him with his own hand. 

The next day he had the singular good fortune to 
capture a ship with his foot-soldiers. The sloop 
Dauntless, belonging to the British squadron which 
was cruising in the Baltic, was trying to revictual 
Dantzig, and under cover of a thick morning fog, 
which rendered her utterly invisible, she imprudently 
sailed up the canal which joins the fortress to the 
sea. But the sun soon scattered the fog, the 
presence of the vessel was revealed to all, and as the 



46 MEMOIRS OF 

Wind had fallen, she stopped short, spreading her 
useless sails, incapable of stirring, and as easy a 
prey to our soldiers as a stranded whale is to the 
fishermen. After a few volleys of musketry, the 
Dauntless hauled down her flao". 

Meanwhile, the Russians received by sea the 
succour which they had so long been awaiting, and 
the moment had come for them to make a supreme 
effort. One night, at three o'clock, they issued 
from the fort of Weichslemunde, to the number of 
eight thousand, in four columns, to attempt to destroy 
our works and pierce our lines. They attacked 
them with extraordinary vigour : driven back with 
grape-shot, and pursued at the point of the bayonet, 
they returned stubbornly to the redoubts, only to be 
driven back again. Their obstinacy was such, and 
so Qfreat their need to break throuoh the circle 
which hemmed them in, that they formed them- 
selves aofain for a last effort in mass, and once more 
hurled themselves upon us. Lannes and Oudinot 
saw that this affair was to decide whether the city 
of Dantzig was to be taken or delivered : they 
hurried into the thick of the lighting, and the 
irresistible Oudinot, chari-ino: at the head of a 
battalion of Grenadiers, forced his way into the 
enemy's squares like a wedge. A scrimmage 



MARSHAL OUDINOT 47 

ensued ; he pushed forward ; his horse was killed 
under him by a bullet ; his soldiers, seeing him fall, 
took alarm ; but he sprang up again, all shouted, 
" Hurrah for the General ! " while he, never dis- 
concerted, continued to lead them on foot. They 
gained ground little by little. The Russians, 
astonished, gave way, and finally retreated, pricked 
on by our bayonets, to the walls of the fort of 
Weichslemunde, where they enclosed themselves, 
and capitulated a few days later. On the 26th of 
May, the French army was mistress of Dantzig. 

Oudinot waited for a fortnight at Marlenburg, and 
then received orders to march rapidly eastwards, in 
order to catch up the Russians, who, after a lively 
attack and an unforeseen resistance, were retreating 
in good order with a view to saving Konigsberg. 
The advance-guard, consisting of ten thousand men, 
was commanded by Marshal Lannes and himself 
On the 13th of June, In the evening, they arrived 
at Donnau and perceived that they were almost in 
contact with the whole of the hostile army, whose 
bivouac fires could be seen three leagues away in 
the direction of the village of Friedland on the 
river Alle. Oudinot made all the arrangements to 
place his men to advantage, did not return to his 
quarters until eleven o'clock, ordered his horse for 



48 MEMOIRS OF 

two o'clock in the morning, and threw himself in 
full uniform on his bed. 

At two o'clock he was in the saddle, under a sky 
as bright as it usually is in countries of high latitude, 
and recognized the enemy's strong position. To 
set a handful of men against the whole Russian 
army with any hope of victory was not to be 
thought of ; but it was possible to occupy the 
village of Posthenen, the little wood of Sortlack, 
and the heights commanding the Alle, in such a 
way as to bar the road to Konigsberg. They 
would thus compel the Russians to await the arrival 
of the French army, and then to give battle with 
a river at their backs, a very disadvantageous 
position. 

The firing began at three o'clock in the morning, and 
was vigorously kept up until seven. The advance- 
guard was exhausting itself in this unequal conflict, 
when at that moment Marshal Mortier appeared 
with the divisions commanded by Nansouty, Dupas 
and Verdier, bringing up the total of the French to 
twenty-six thousand men : not many to oppose 
to seventy - five tliousand ! But the ground 
was favourable, and it was defended by heroes. 
They held firm until noon, when Napoleon ap- 
peared with the main body of his arm)-. His 



MARSHAL OUDINOT 49 

officers hastened to him. Oudinot, his uniform 
riddled with bullets and his horse dripping with 
blood, was eager to complete what he had so bril- 
liantly undertaken : 

" Quick, Sire," he said ; " my Grenadiers can hold 
out no longer : but give me reinforcements, and I'll 
pitch all the Russians into the water." 

They were in full force. Napoleon wished the 
troops to have a moment's respite, of which they 
stood in great need after a forced march and nine 
hours' fighting ; and at four o'clock in the afternoon 
the battle recommenced. At six o'clock the village 
of Friedland was carried, all in flames ; the bridges 
over the Alle were destroyed, and the Russians 
drowned in attempting to cross the river at the 
fords or in spots filled up with accumulations of 
carriages, wasreons, men and horses. The last shot 
was fired at midnight. 

Oudinot was not able to take a direct part in this 
second half of the battle, in spite of his expressed 
desire. The Emperor ordered that his Grenadiers, 
who were half destroyed, should remain in the 
second line : they had done enough for one day, 
inasmuch as their invincible tenacity and courage 
had kept the Russians at bay and made the great 
decisive action possible. None the less, even in 



50 MEMOIRS OF 

the second line, they were very much exposed and 
suffered severely from the effects of the artillery. 
Oudinot's horse had its leg broken, and his aide-de- 
camp Hutin, by his side, had his face grazed so 
closely by a cannon-ball that he lost his breath, 
choked, and fell down dead. 

Peace was signed at Tilsit on the 7th of Jul)^ 
and Oudinot went to take up his quarters at Dantzig. 
He divided his time between the cares of his army 
and the society of his fellow-officers, and led a quiet 
and often festive existence, giving and attending 
very gay parties. These included Marshals Soult, 
Mortier and others, like the grave Davout ; and 
together, satiated with combats of ever-increasing 
grandeur and horror, they forgot the spectacles of 
death that they had lately witnessed, and relaxed 
their minds with youthful follies and subalterns' 
diversions ; in the evenings they would amuse 
themselves, in the magnificent apartments in 
which they gave their receptions, in putting out 
the candles with pistol-bullets. Fortunately the 
damage done was always paid for with magnificent 
generosity. 

But fate, which seemed to bear a grudge against 
Oudinot's body, prevented him from enjo)ing a long 
repose. On the 12th of December, as he returned 



MARSHAL OUDINOr 51 

from Inspecting one of the forts, he set his horse to 
jump a ravine that barred the way ; but the beast 
missed Its footing and fell upon Its side, crushing Its 
rider and breaking his right leg. The General 
was carried home on a litter, and said to the 
surgeon, thinking of the similar accident which had 
interfered with his career at Treves twelve years 
before : 

" Get It over quickly : this Is not the first time 
this has happened to me." 

He was not able to leave until March 1808, and, 
even then, he was not fully restored to health. The 
journey home to Bar-le-Duc was no easy one for a 
cripple unable to move without crutches. But it 
was on his return that he first made the acquaint- 
ance of a girl of sixteen. Mile. Eugenie de Coucy, 
who was destined, four years later, Oudinot being 
then a widower, to become his wife. Very many 
years after, when she In her turn had become a 
widow, she occupied her old age in collecting for 
her children the Interesting souvenirs from which 
this work Is mainly drawn. The following extract 
contains a sketch of country life at the time of the 
Revolution and the Empire, and tells us of Mile, de 
Coucy and of her family, and of her first meeting 
with Oudinot. 



52 MEMOIRS OF 

My children, you urge me to write down my life, although 
I have often told }'OU the details of it, and what I have not 
revealed to you has been the secret of others. 

To begin at the beginning, I will remind you that 
my father was a captain in the Artois Regiment and a 
Knight of St. Louis. He was the eldest of ten children : 
two of his brothers served in the same regiment as himself; 
a third was grand vicar to the Bishop of Agde ; and as 
to his sisters, one was a canoness, one a nun, and four 
others lived together under the paternal roof. None of 
them was married. 

My grandfather de Coucy and his wife, who was Mile, 
de Conyngham, of a Scotch family, were still alive at the 
time at which I commence my narrative. They were 
assisted in the cares and expenses resulting from so large 
a family by the Miles, de Coucy, my grandfather's elder 
sisters, who lived at Hancourt, two leagues from the manor 
house at Lentilles. 

This patriarchal family lived in perfect harmon\'. The 
greater part of the year was spent both at Lentilles and 
Hancourt in a life of agriculture and retirement ; but when 
the time of furlough came, and the three }-oung officers 
and the abbe, who was perhaps the noisiest of the four 
brothers, came home, everything grew lively and assumed 
its most festive air. Then our country neighbours, who 
all led a more or less similar existence, met together in 
joyful and crowded gatherings : for in those days families 
were immense ; one saw ten or a dozen children at every 
table ; and if ail did not succeed in attaining an equally 



MARSHAL OUDINOT 53 

splendid position, at least they were all able to live, and 
neither they nor their parents possessed that distrust of 
Providence, that dread of the future, which nowadays so 
frequently embitters all family happiness. 

Among the poor nobility of the country, the girls thought 
it quite natural that they should remain unmarried, in order 
not to encroach for their dowries upon the fortune which 
it was preferred to save for the eldest of the boys. 

My father was the handsomest of the four brothers. His 
education was stopped at thirteen, the age at which he 
entered the service under the patronage of the three 
Conynghams, his uncles, who were all officers in the 
Artois Regiment. His studies naturally suffered from 
this interruption ; but he continued to work of his own 
accord, and without attaining the pitch to which a classical 
education might have brought him, he nevertheless achieved 
a facility of style in speaking and writing which in those 
days was a rare accomplishment. 

When he was thirty years old, my father met my mother, 
then Mile, de Merguay and eighteen years of age, at Luxeuil, 
where he had gone to take the waters. She was pale and fair, 
and graceful and sweet as an angel ; and she was there with 
her father, in mourning for Mme. de Mer^uay. The little 
estate from which they took their name lay at three leagues 
from Luxeuil, and the rumour soon spread that the hand- 
some officer had offered his hand to the charming orphan. 
The arrangements were promptly made, the marriage took 
place shortly after, and my father took up his residence 
with his wife and father-in-law at the latter's estate of 



54 MEMOIRS OF 

MercLiay in Franche-Comte. They received visits from the 
brothers and sisters, visits which they returned each year 
in Champagne. The peace seemed lasting, and my father 
retired from the army three years after his marriage. 

The birth of my sister was followed in a few years by 
that of my elder brother, Maximilien, a charming child, 
who died at the age of seven. This was their first deep 
sorrow. My grand-parents in Champagne died next, and 
soon the first rumblings of the thunder of the Revolution 
were heard. My father foresaw the storm which was about 
to burst forth ; but he made up his mind at once to face it 
on the spot, and refused to emigrate. I was born in the 
meanwhile. They had hoped for a boy and I was badly 
received, although idolized later, whether to atone for 
this first bad welcome, or from any other reason, I 
know not. 

Before long my father was denounced as a suspect by 
the villagers whom he had loaded with kindness, and to- 
gether with m}^ mother and sister, who was then fourteen, 
he was taken on foot, between four Fusiliers, to Faverney, 
a neighbouring market town, where all three were locked 
up in an old convent that did duty for a prison. Soon, 
however, it was considered that the company of his family 
was too pleasant for him, and he was sent alone to Gray, 
while my mother and sister were transferred to \^esoul. 

I was two years and a half old, and was also imprisoned. 
An order was issued for the arrest of my small person, and 
I was locked up with my mother, who was in despair at 
seeing me thus deprived of the air which is the life of 



MARSHAL OUDINOT 55 

children. Suddenly we learnt that Robespierre the Younger 
was in our part of the country, in his quality as people's 
represent'ative. With great difficulty leave was obtained 
from the warders for me to go out for one morning. My 
nurse Rosalie, who, from devotion to the family, had joined 
the popular side, had been left her liberty; she watched over 
our interests outside the prison, and came to take me from 
the arms of the horrible men who boasted in the title ot 
sans-cullotes. I remember they wore caps made of foxes' 
skins. He who handed me to my nurse had left the beast's 
long bush hanging to his, and it swung to and fro, fol- 
lowing all his movements, a sight which filled me with 
frightful terror. I cried, but Rosalie, who had made all 
her plans, lectured me on what I was to do ; and placing 
a paper in my hand, she took me to Robespierre. 

I see him now. It was morning, and he was not yet up, 
and was giving audience to a host of people in bed. My 
little look of fright caught his attention. 

" Who is that child ? " he asked. 

My nurse stepped forward : 

" Citizen representative, she is the daughter of Citizen 
Coucy ; her parents ..." 

"Ah, I see, nobles. Put the child down there," pointing 
to his bed. 

I clung to Rosalie, uttering terrible screams, while the 
people's representative ran his eyes over my petition. He 
then sent for some sweets and kissed me. 

" Your beard hurts," I exclaimed, struggling to get 
away. 



56 MEMOIRS OF 

This made him laugh, and he said, "You tell me she is 
only two years and six months, and they issued a warrant 
for her arrest? Absurd! It is enough to make the 
Government ridiculous ! Make out an order," turning 
to his secretary, "for her to be set at liberty at once." 

" And her parents ? " asked Rosalie. 

"Ah, that is beyond my power." 

Nevertheless he uttered his refusal kindly. My nurse, 
seeing there was no more to be done, took me back to my 
mother, who had not hoped for any great result from this 
step for herself or my father, but who felt at least some 
relief at seeing me leave the dark, damp walls of the prison, 
in which her health and my sister's were already under- 
going a visible change. Rosalie took me to Mercuay, 
where I found my grandfather, who, too old to be moved 
from home, was watched night and day by twenty volunteers 
fed and lodged at his expense. 

At last, thanks to the efforts of my father's youngest 
brother, married to a daughter of the Comte d'Allegrin, 
the Aunt Clotilde whose memory I cherish and revere with 
a sort of worship, my father obtained his release from prison 
in 1794, on the 9 Thcrmidor, together with my mother 
and sister. 

It was high time for my father : his moral agony had 
become intolerable, and he never completely recovered 
from the trial. Nor. for that matter, was this the end of 
it, for many sad years followed upon the Terror itself. 
Not long after my parents' return to Mercuay, my grand- 
father, the good ex-lord of the manor, died. He was very 



MARSHAL OUDINOT 57 

old, but until the Revolution he was wonderfully hale. 
Having served in the Hussars, he had retained in his old 
age the habits peculiar, they say, to that branch of the 
service. He loved noise, movement, gaiety ; he sang at 
table, and composed joyous couplets which lingered long 
in the memory of my relations in Champagne. I still have 
a clear remembrance of his tall figure and his dress, which 
was always green. 

The birth of my brother Gustave was an immense con- 
solation to my parents ; but it was followed, alas ! in less 
than ten months by the death of my dear, noble father. 
He set out one morning for Vesoul. I see him now, dressed 
in a coat of dark cloth, with a pale blue satin waistcoat, 
embroidered with white stars. He was going to the elec- 
tions to try and carry the return of Pichegru for the Haute- 
Saone. I never saw him again ! Four days after his 
departure, my mother was sent for, then Rosalie, and at 
last my sister : it was to nurse him in an inflammatory 
fever which carried him off in eight days, at the age of 
fifty-three. 

It was decided to let Mer^uay, where my mother could 
not bear to remain, and we went to Champagne to join 
my father's family. Our departure took place in the 
spring of 1799. My mother was never to see her birth- 
place again. 

Before describing Lentilles to you, where we made our 
first stay, let me tell you who were awaiting us there. 

My Aunt de Coucy was plain-featured ; but her stature, 
which was tall and well-shaped, and her wont of governing 



58 MEMOIRS OF 

all around her since her fifteenth year, had combined to 
give her the grand air. She had a generous and devoted 
heart, a playful humour, and a great love of amusement. 
Having voluntarily spent her youth in caring for her 
mother and the long array of brothers and sisters who 
came after her (there were twelve of them, for two of whom 
I have not spoken died in their cradles), the result of this 
life of self-abnegation was that, in her maturer years, my 
aunt, relieved of the duties v/hich she had so conscientiously 
fulfilled, was taken with the desire to enjoy herself; but the 
modesty of her fortune, not to mention the Revolution, con- 
stantly stood in her way. What was the upshot of it all .'' 
She was content to witness the joys of her fellow-creatures, 
and to make them her own. 

My uncle the abbe was by nature lively, hot-headed, and 
brave to temerity : he had only become a priest because 
he was the youngest of the family. Nevertheless, while 
recognizing the difficulties of his task, my uncle had nobly 
fulfilled them, first from a sense of honour, and later from 
an enlightened and sincere feeling of religion. 

Miles, de Louvrigny and de Velly were weak and deli- 
cate, and slightly deformed. You will be less surprised at 
the unfortunate malformation of the two sisters, when I 
tell you that at that time it was the custom to swathe new- 
born children as tightly as mummies. 

My uncle the abbt§ was my godfather and Louvrign)-' my 
godmother. This title, which is nowadays accepted so 
lightly that its obligations are never fulfilled, was in the 
old days taken in its true acceptance, and was considered 



MARSHAL OUDINOT 



59 



what it really is, a religious engagement. Brother and 
sister had therefore vowed beforehand to take a special 
interest in me, without permitting this to diminish that 
which they bore to the other children of their dear brother. 

Louvrigny and Velly, who were known among the 
family as the two inseparables, both because of their 
mutual sympathy and the similarity of their figures, 
seemed to have united themselves in a common destiny. 
To attend to their department in the inner working of 
the house, to love and work for their family, was the 
employment of their lives. As the youngest, they were 
generally left at home, where their delicate health would 
in any case have frequently retained them. Louvrigny 
had that sparkling natural wit and that piquant pertinency 
which became the charm of the fireside by the manner in 
which she availed herself of the gift, always pleasing, never 
wounding any. Velly, gentle and calm, was every one's 
refugiuni peccatorum ; her angelic character carried peace 
wherever she went. She had a charming head ; when I 
knew her, the remains of her beauty were her almond- 
shaped eyes, of a velvety gray, whose soft expression still 
haunts me. 

The old family house occupied one side of a great square 
court-yard, formed on the three other sides by rural build- 
ings. Two breaks in the masonry gave a glimpse of a 
fine orchard. So much space was there in the grass- 
carpeted court-yard, so green was it, and so animated by 
the presence of an enormous number of birds and poultry 
of all kinds, that its appearance was never gloomy. 



6o MEMOIRS OF 

As in almost all the houses of that time and of that 
part of the countr}-, a long covered verandah ran before 
the house, where we often sat. One had to descend a 
step in order to enter the ground-floor, which was paved 
with tiles ; this will give you an idea of the dampness of 
the place. I feel cold when I think of it now ; but then 
all seemed delightful to me, not excluding the branch of 
the climbing rose-tree, which one day audaciously pierced 
the wall of my bed-room and went on growing finely 
inside. Do not think that this suggested to any one the 
idea of repairs. No, nothing was ever changed : what 
had held out last year would last the next, they said. People 
did not then spend money on house-comfort. Nevertheless, 
the table was ahva\s well and amply supplied : it was shared 
with friends, relations and neighbours, who in their turn 
reciprocated the hospitality received. 

My uncle the abbe loved the smaller comforts of life. 
He had kept good cheer upon the twelve thousand francs 
of his grand-vicariate, and my aunts were a little afraid of 
the daintiness of his palate. Whenever they felt uncertain 
of a dish, they would avoid his look, especially my Aunt 
de Coucy, who was responsible, since the kitchen was her 
special charge. On those occasions her brother would 
look at her fixedly, without saying a word. Vainly she 
turned her head, talked to her neighbours on the left and 
the right: that fixed eye fascinated her. WillN--nill\-, she 
was bound to meet it ; and then, driven to bay, she would 
pluck up courage and haughtily ask him why he stared at 
her so. Sometimes the matter ended in jest ; sometimes 



MARSHAL OUDINOT 6i 

there would be a few words : but these little clouds soon 
passed away. 

To come to my aunt the canoness : after her chapter 
had been broken up, she had gone to live at Vitry-Ie- 
Fran^ois. It was in that town that my mother, when 
coming to Champagne, had resolved to take up her 
abode. 

To complete the picture of the family, I will mention 
the inmates of Hancourt Of my uncle and my Aunt 
Clotilde I have already spoken : three children had since 
come to add to their happiness. Our dear Enguerrand 
was the eldest. Hancourt was a charming little English 
farm, a model of care and cleanliness. We stayed there a 
few weeks before finally installing ourselves at Vitry, where 
we had a small house near that of my aunt. Our days 
were spent in retirement, in household cares, reading, 
lessons and work, and in the evenings we would walk out 
to take the air. There was perhaps no place in the world 
where so little politics was talked as at Vitry. My 
mother, sister and aunt, who all held definite opinions, 
contented themselves with meeting their intimates from 
time to time in order to deplore the criminal days of the 
Revolution, or to celebrate behind closed doors the old 
solemnities of the Monarchy ; but all happened without 
noise or bravado in this little circle of friends, who were 
none the less welcome in the other drawing-rooms which 
they visited. 

Thus passed sweetly the first few years of our residence 
in Champagne. Meantime, General Bonaparte had returned 



62 MEMOIRS OF 

from Ef^}'pt to take up the command of the army of Italy. 
Domestic tranquillity was being gradually re-established in 
P""rancc ; the churches were re-opened for public worship; the 
priests were allowed to show themselves once more, and 
religion was freely practised ; the emigrants were returning ; 
and there were signs on every side that a strong hand had 
seized the reins of public affairs. This general improve- 
ment was especially appreciated by those who had been 
the most severely tried by the Terror. Nevertheless, the 
misfortunes were still too recent, the wounds too fresh, 
for it to be possible to live without hatred of the past and 
distrust of the future. 

I have not yet mentioned one who is well known to you 
and who unwittingly played a part in my destiny : I mean 
M. Eugene de Villers. His father was killed at the Tuile- 
ries on the loth of August ; his mother, an aunt of my 
Aunt Clotilde's, was sent to prison at Bar-le-Duc, where the 
family lived. The poor young man, on the point of 
becoming an orphan and but little endowed with fortune, 
was welcomed at Hancourt and treated as a son. His 
natural good qualities and his misfortunes interested all ni)- 
relations, who received him with affection. Eventually his 
mother escaped the scaffold, and, when order was re-estab- 
lished, she wished her son to take service in the army, 
whose constantly increasing glory attracted even those who 
had most suffered. Mmc. de Villers presented her son to 
the natural patron of her native town. General Oudinot ; 
and after a campaign in which he bore himself bravel}', the 
young man returned with his epaulets. Thenceforward lie 



MARSHAL OUDINOT 63 

applied himself with heart and soul to his profession, and 
always remained an enthusiastic supporter of the man who 
had assisted him to enter it. 

I think I have told you enough to give you a definite 
idea of the political opinions which my family at that time 
entertained. Bonaparte had deceived the hopes which a 
few Royalists (notwithstanding the 13 Vendemiaire) had 
formed of him. A fraction of the party had persisted in 
regarding him as the restorer of the Royal Family of the 
Bourbons ; and this may have been one of the reasons 
which prompted the murder of which M. le Due d'Enghien 
was the victim, since this act could leave no more doubts 
as to the feelings of the First Consul towards the Bourbons. 
Thenceforth the fraction of which I speak remained in 
opposition to him ; it was a very small minority, but my 
family formed part of it, and invariably kept up its remem- 
brances and its regrets. 

We had just lost my Aunt de Louvrigny, and were living 
in greater seclusion than ever, less interested than at any 
time in outside matters, when M. de Villers returned from 
his first campaign. He was full of the name of Oudinot, 
representing its owner as a model of bravery in battle 
and generosity after victory ; and he succeeded in arous- 
ing the interest of my relatives, who had heard speak 
of the magnanimity of this commander, admired by all. 
As for me, my children, I was then a little girl of eight or 
ten years of age, and I felt my heart beat at the tale of all 
the battles of those times. Strange contrast ! I was born a 
timid creature, as you know, and I loved to hear of fighting 



64 MEMOIRS OF 

I had always liked bustle ! In history, as in my story- 
books, what I most loved was military subjects, and I 
listened with all my ears to our excellent M. de Villers ; so 
that you see he had something to do with the determination 
which ten years later decided my fate. When I told him 
this one day, he was delighted. But for the present no 
idea of glory, you can well believe, came to trouble the 
peace of my days. 

On the 5th of June 1805, my sister was married to the 
Vicomte de la Gueriviere, younger son of an old Poitou 
family, who, on attaining the requisite age, had been 
received into the Order of Malta. Under M. d'Estaings 
he went through the War of Independence of the United 
States. He was subsequently appointed Colonel of the 
Chasseurs of the Order of Malta, and was on that island 
during the French Revolution. He defended the fort of 
Rohan against General Dessaix, and with his small force was 
still resisting while the Grand Master, prompted either by 
weakness or treachery, was signing a pitiful capitulation on 
board the Oriait. It was not until after receiving this 
official news that M. de la Gueriviere capitulated in his 
turn ; but he marched out from the fort with the full 
honours of war, at the head of his garrison, which con- 
sisted of only eighty men. 

He understood that thenceforth all was over for Malta, 
and returned broken-hearted to France at the age of thirt}-- 
six, and possessed of no fortune. He obtained from the 
Pope a release from his vows, and resolved to enter the 
Department of Finance, in which determination he was 



MARSHAL OUDINOT 65 

assisted by his friend M. Buffault, at that time receiver- 
general at Bar-le-Duc. 

My mother and I stayed a month at Bar-le-Duc after the 
marriage. The wedding-repasts succeeded one another 
without interruption ; they seemed long to me, but nothing 
ever wearied me. At that time it was the habit to sing at 
table, each in the place where he sat, without accompani- 
ment. 

One of the most solemn entertainments was a dinner 
given by M, Leclerc, the Prefect of the Meuse. His honest 
reputation and appearance and his distinguished manners 
had won my mother's sympathy. He was the first im- 
portant functionary with whom she had come into contact 
since the Empire. We kept up pleasant relations with him 
both before and after my marriage. Although he had been 
created a count of the Empire, the Prefect of the Meuse 
was nevertheless regarded at Bar as a third-class person- 
age, and kept in a sort of disgrace. He was brother to the 
Princesse d'Eckmiihl and brother-in-law to the Princesse 
Borghese, the widow of General Leclerc, and consequently 
was closely connected with the Court ; but he was not in 
the least ambitious, and asked nothing better than to live 
on the same level as his neighbours. Nevertheless he 
remained on friendly terms with the Emperor's charming 
sister. 

He used to entertain us by relating a proof of her 
remembrance which she had recently given him. She was 
travelling to Germany, and one fine morning a courier in 
her livery came knocking at the Prefect's house. He had 



66 MEMOIRS OF 

come to announce the arrival, he said, of Her Imperial 
Highness, who would ask him to give her some breakfast ; 
nothing simpler so far ; but the messenger was instructed 
moreover to order that, when she stepped out of her carriage, 
a milk bath should be in readiness for her, to be followed 
by a shower-bath of the same liquid. 

It was not an easy thing to do, in a small town ; never- 
theless, means must be found. The Prefect despatched to 
the neighbouring villages the whole force of his Depart- 
mental Guard. Each soldier brought back his can of milk, 
and they were beginning to heat it when the fair traveller 
arrived. 

" Carry me as you used to do, dear little brother," 
said she ; and the Prefect resumed his former functions, 
and set the Princess down in the handsomest room in the 
house. 

"And, my bath .^ " she asked, in a wheedling voice, 

" It is ready for you." 

"And my shower-bath.?" 

" Ah, that was more difficult, we have no apparatus 
for it." 

" Have some holes pierced in the ceiling just over the 
place where my bath will stand when it is brought in. 
Forgive the trouble, dear little brother, but it is necessary 
for my health." 

They did the best they could, and the result was that 
the Prefect received many gracious adieux, the furniture 
was splashed with milk-stains, and the room long smelt of 
a badly-kept dairy. 



MARSHAL OUDINOT 67 

When the Emperor came to Bar, he always preferred to 
stay at General Oudinot's, The Prefect generally waited 
until he sent for him. The last time he was a little late ; 
it was in the evening, and the Emperor, when he saw him, 
said, "You like to sleep, monsieur le prefet." That was 
all, and it was not until some years later that this modest 
and worthy administrator was rewarded by being created 
a Senator, only shortly before the fall of the Empire. 
During his residence at Bar, he continued on terms of 
intimate friendship with my brother-in-law. 

On the occasion of this our first visit, we saw none of 
the Oudinot family. Mme. la Comtesse Oudinot, your 
father's first wife, had just taken up her abode with her 
children in the house I now live in, which was scarcely 
finished, and they were still laying out and beginning to 
plant our beautiful gardens. The Emperor was expected 
the very next day ; the town was all excitement, and I 
heard with delight that he was to pass under our windows 
in the Rue du Bourg. I got ready to behold with my own 
eyes the man who till then had played so fantastic a part 
in my imagination. He was preceded by a number of 
couriers. About mid-day his carriage drove slowly past ; 
but, alas ! I was only able to catch sight of the edge of 
his cloak, thrown carelessly over his knee. Towards 
the end of the winter of 1807-8, my sister first told us 
of her acquaintance with Mme. la Comtesse Oudinot. 
Her praise was in every mouth, and that which came from 
my sister increased my desire to meet her. My sister, 
being the wife of a State functionary, obtained for me, with 



6S MEMOIRS OF 

my mother's permission, an invitation to a fete given to 
commemorate some solemnity or other. 

The reception took place in the theatre ; it was crowded ; 
all the boxes were filled, and one particularly attracted my 
attention : it was the Comtesse Oudinot's. They whispered 
that the person on her right was one of the Empress's 
ladies. It was, in fact, the Comtesse de INIarescot, and 
three of the Emperor's pages, in their rich and brilliant 
uniform, completed the party. At last I saw the wife of 
General Oudinot ; her beautiful, gentle blue eyes met mine ; 
they seemed to glance at me wuth a look of kindness, while 
I, on my side, felt drawn towards her by a subtle sympathy. 
What a reminiscence ! 

Mme. Oudinot was thirty-eight or forty years of age : 
I cannot give you a better idea of her face than by asking 
you to look at that of Charles, her grandson. She was 
short and very stout. Victor, her eldest son, one of the 
three Imperial pages, resembled the portrait in my boudoir 
at Jeand'hcurs. He was then fifteen or sixteen years old ; 
he came and asked me for a country-dance, and soon I was 
dazzled by his talent in this art, which at that time was an 
object of great interest. Not only was one taught to put an 
infinitude of lightness and grace into his steps, but the 
men paid great attention to their manners with their 
partners; at least this was the 'habit of well-bred people, 
and the son of General Oudinot was known to have received 
a perfect education, and to ha\e turned it to the best 
advantage. 

They had introduced at Bar a foreign dance which 



MARSHAL OUDINOT 69 

replaced that known as the " Grandfather," which generally 
ended the balls. I have never seen it danced anywhere 
else ; it was a general hopping-match. Every one took 
part in it, to the sound of a tambourine, which singularly 
reminded one of the music of the performing bears. Some- 
what surprised at this novelty, the page began to burst 
with laughter. I felt greatly inclined to do as much. 
"Well," said he, "we must join in this motion," and we 
soon followed the general impulse with the enthusiasm of 
the two children that we were. But the orchestra stopped, 
and M. Oudinot, bringing me back to my seat, made me a 
gay and smiling bow, which I returned. Those were my 
first relations with the Oudinot family : you see they opened 
under happy auspices. 

After the Peace of Tilsit, the Grenadiers occupied 
Dantzig ; and it was during his stay there that their 
general-in-chief broke his leg while galloping on the exe- 
crable pavements of that city. It was a serious and 
complicated fracture, and so soon as the invalid was able 
to bear transporting, he applied for sick leave to come 
and take the waters in France, and to be present at the 
wedding of his eldest daughter with General Pajol. 

We ourselves were at Bar in the summer of 1808. 
During the short visits which the General had paid to 
Bar since my sister had come to live there, he had often 
been to her house. Christine's relations with the Comtesse 
Oudinot had drawn closer ; both of them, as they grew to 
know one another better, learnt to appreciate each other 
more. And this was the time for redoubling one's proofs 



70 , MEMOIRS OF 

of sympathy, since the General, still suffering from his 
accident, made it none the less his habit to receive every 
evening all those who called upon his wife, 

Meanwhile our visit was being protracted amid a 
round of various amusements, when a lady of our 
acquaintance, Mme. Oudot by name, arranged wiih my 
sister a day upon which to call at the General's house, 
and both joined in begging my mother to permit me to 
accompany them. " It is a very new and very brilliant 
world for the child to enter," she replied (I was then about 
sixteen years old). My sister insisted until my mother 
gave her consent, and I was delighted ; for my interest 
and curiosity had long been excited about this general 
of whom we had heard speak so constantly since our 
arrival. 

Perhaps I had better tell you what sort of idea I had 
formed of the commander-in-chief of the massed Grenadiers, 
a formidable troop which was nicknamed, as you know, 
"the infernal column." I pictured him as enormously tall 
and stout, with a voice of thunder, speaking with the 
gestures and tone of command ; I saw him armed to the 
teeth and dragging a huge sword behind him. In all this 
I resembled a little the children who often take the drum- 
major for the colonel of the regiment on account of his 
great height, his position at the head of the regiment, his 
ferocious air, and his authoritative gestures. 

Filled with this picture of my imagination, I followed 
my sister wilh an agitation which increased as we 
approached the house. It was between seven and eight 



MARSHAL OUDINOT 71 

o'clock in the evening; the weather was warm and splendid, 
and after dinner the inmates had dispersed through the 
garden. The countess received us with kindness. She 
was accompanied by several ladies and young girls, and 
we soon saw coming from behind all the bushes a number 
of men of different ages, among whom I noticed many 
in uniform. 

Mme. Oudinot despatched some of her husband's aides- 
de-camp to fetch us bouquets, and meantime resumed her 
stroll in our company. " My husband," she said to my 
sister, "has gone to see my father in the upper town. I 
fear it is a rather long distance for him to walk with his 
broken leg." She had hardly finished speaking, when she 
exclaimed, "Ah, here he is!" We were close to the 
bridge over the canal and in sight of the great stables, from 
which we saw a man come out who walked slowly and 
with difficulty, leaning on the arm of an officer. He was 
dressed in a brown frock, and wore nothing by way of 
uniform except a forage cap embroidered with the lace 
denoting his rank. 

At the first glance, he dissipated all the ideas I had 
formed concerning him. His slender and supple figure 
displayed the gracefulness peculiar to those who habitually 
wear uniform ; his complexion was very pale, and he wore 
a slight moustache of the same brown shade as his hair 
and whiskers. His open forehead, adorned with fine and 
distinctly-marked eyebrows, was really admirable ; his 
smile, a little haughty, rare and fleeting, was nevertheless 
perfectly gracious ; his piercing glance never stared, and in 



72 MEMOIRS OF 

the whole of his physiognomy there was something deep 
and dreamy that preoccupied one. 

The General took his place by my sister's side at the 
head of the procession, and I mechanically followed. 
Soon we entered the drawing-room on the ground-floor, 
which was brilliantly lighted. The General, who was 
fatigued, sat down at once on the sofa before the fire-place, 
begging permission to put up his leg, which was not yet 
cured, and persuaded Lis wife to go to the piano and form 
some quadrilles, which she did with her usual kindness. 
M. de Bourcet, whom I expect you remember, was our 
only orchestra, and his merry companions, who had been 
joined by a few young men of the town, kept us dancing 
till eleven o'clock. The moon had risen over Mount 
Faremont; the weather was so warm that the three doors 
leading to the garden had been left open and admitted 
the delicious perfume of the flowers. It was a delightful 
evening and I enjoyed myself thoroughly. I loved danc- 
ing, and did nothing else. Yet I seemed to perceive, 
during a momentary interval of repose, that I was the 
object of the kindly observation of the General and his 
wife ; but this fleeting thought left no trace in my memory 
and only returned to me in later years. 

On the 25th of July 180S, Oudinot had received 
the title of Count of the Empire, toq-ether with the 
gift of the domain of Inoclavo, which represented 
a value of a million francs. He j)urchased, in the 
neij^hbourhood of Bar-le-Duc, the immense estate of 



MARSHAL OUDINOT 73 

Jeand'heurs, which had been sold under the Revolu- 
tion as national property. The old abbey, founded 
in the middle ages by the Order of Premonstrants, 
rose in the midst of a huge park surrounded by 
walls, with gardens, woodland, pieces of water, hot- 
houses, an orangery. Each year Oudinot took 
greater pleasure in beautifying this property, in 
filling it with his triumphs, decorating it with his 
trophies, his swords of honour, and the celebrated 
cannon of Monsembano, whose deep voice boomed 
out on days of festival. Later, the little river 
Saulx, which crosses the park, was used to work 
an industrial establishment — a paper-mill — which 
was of great service to the municipality of Lisle 
en Rigaud, and employed a number of hands. 



CHAPTER III 



The Congress of Erfurt — Oudinot Governor of Erfurt — The Czar Alexander — 
The Grand-Duke Constantine and the King of Wuvtemberg — Constantine 
and the Grenadiers — Alexander's apprehensions — Constantine's plume — ■ 
The second Austrian campaign— The engagements of Pfaffenhofcn, Ried, 
Eljcrsberg — Oudinot occupies Vienna — Oudinot at Essling — He replaces 
Lannes in command of the 2nd Corps — Oudinot is made a Marshal and 
Due de Reggio — A complimentary letter from the Czar — Oudinot's mission 
to Holland — His moderation and humanity — His success — Death of his 
first wife — The Emperor's divorce — Marie Louise — Annexation of Holland 
— Marriage negociations between the Due de Reggio and Mile, de Coucy 
— The betrothal — The marriage — The ceremony — Departure for Bar-le- 
Duc — The Marshal's father — His children. 



After Tilsit, Napoleon went to Germany, to the 
meeting' at Erfurt, where, in conjunction with his fickle 
friend, the Czar Alexander, he hoped to be able to 
settle definitively the fate of Europe. All the 
kinglets and princes of the Confederation of the 
Rhine were there ; and to his mind tlicrc was no 
pomp sumptuous enough to give them an idea 
of his might. He wanted a man with a glorious 
name to govern this little town for a few weeks 
under these imposing conditions, and he selected 
Oudinot. 

The Duchcssc de Reggio supplies some curious 
details concerning the incidents at Erfurt : 

74 



MEMOIRS OF MARSHAL OUDINOT 



75 



The General had left Bar when, a few days later, my 
sister and I went to leave cards. We ourselves soon re- 
turned to Vitry and went on to Hancourt, where we spent 
the autumn. 

At this period I used to listen with exceptional interest 
when the newspapers were read out aloud. They were 
filled with details on the famous Congress of Erfurt. 
General Oudinot had been appointed Governor of this 
town, where all the sovereigns of the North were as- 
sembled ; but the Emperors of France and Russia at- 
tracted the principal attention, and naturally threw into 
the shade the mass of crowned heads, who, in fact, were 
only grouped there by the will of one man. 

The political objects and results of this Congress 
are not in my domain. As to the details of the mag- 
nificence of this assemblage, they have been described at 
length. Who has not heard, for instance, how, at the per- 
formances of the Theatre Fran^ais, brought bodily from 
Paris, all the boxes were occupied by more or less power- 
ful monarchs, while the pit was filled with officers of high 
rank? An unique spectacle in history! 

Unfortunately, few generals thought of taking a personal 
note of these remarkable events, and your father less than 
any of them. Nevertheless, I will narrate here two anec- 
dotes which he has told me, although I cannot hope to give 
an idea of his inimitable manner of relating them. 

It fell to the General who, as Governor, commanded all 
the troops massed at Erfurt and neighbourhood, to supply 
guards, escorts, and so forth, to all the kings and princes, 



76 MEMOIRS OF 

in proportion to each highness's importance ; and this 
brought him into daily contact Avith them all. 

One day, on going his rounds, he was surprised, on 
passing the door of the Grand-Duke Constantine, not to 
see the sentry to whom that prince was entitled ; and as 
he observed on this to one of the officers accompanying 
him, he heard from within a loud voice conducting the 
drill in the drawing-room, the windows of which were open 
to the street. The General without hesitation sprang from 
his horse and presented himself to the Grand-Duke, whom 
he discovered in the strangest neglige face to face with his 
sentry, whom he was putting through his drill. At the 
moment when the General opened the door, the prince 
cried, "Fire!" The musket, naturally, discharged its 
bullet. 

"Ah, Sir, what are you doing?" asked the General in 
amazement. 

" I am amusing myself," replied the Prince. 

"Yes ; but apart from the fact that you are exposing the 
sentry to being court-martiallcd, have you not reflected 
that his musket is loaded, and that }'ou have a neighbour 
opposite you .'' " 

"Pooh! my uncle W'urtcmbcrg," replied the Grand- 
Duke; "it will wake him up." 

The last-named monarch was so well roused by the 
bullet which had just traversed his bed-room that, furious 
and, it must be allowed, not without reason, he sent at once 
to know where the shot had been fired from ; and as his 
messenger found the Prince, my husband and the sentry still 



MARSHAL OUDINOT 77 

together, he went back and told his master that it appeared 
to be the Grand-Duke who, together with the Governor, 
was amusing himself by firing at His Majesty. This might 
have turned out seriously, but fortunately explanations 
were given in good time, and the thing went no further. 

The other anecdote also relates to that brother of Alex- 
ander's, a typical Cossack, morally and physically. He 
was the constant exception amid the civilization that dis- 
tinguished Erfurt 

One morning he asked the Governor to allow him to be 
present at a review of the Grenadiers of the Old Guard. 
Constantine, always enthusiastic about anything military, 
examined these picked troops, who pulled a grimace under 
their mustachios on seeing a Russian come to inspect 
them. 

Your father, who perceived this, and who was anxious 
that everything should go off well, followed him closely. 
Suddenly, as he passed behind a rank, and thinking he 
had to do with a soldier of his own army, he touched one 
of the grognardsy to illustrate some remark. You should 
have heard your father imitate the Grenadier, who ex- 
claimed in a voice of thunder : 

" Who touched me ? " 

" I did," said General Oudinot, quickly placing himself 
between the Prince and the soldier. 

" That's all right," replied the latter, on recognizing the 
well-known voice, which instantly calmed him. 

Napoleon had occasional moments of forgetfulness 



78 MEMOIRS OF 

which prevented him from displaying in his relations 
with the sovereigns all the forethought expected in 
a host. 

"One day," related Oudinot, "we were riding 
into the country, the two Emperors riding side by 
side. At a given moment ours, carried away by 
his thoughts, took the lead, whistling, and seem- 
inij to forget about those he was leavino- behind. 
I shall always remember Alexander, turning 
stiffly towards his neighbour, and asking, ' Are 
we to follow ? ' ' Yes, Sire.' I rejoined Napo- 
leon and told him of this little scene. He fell 
back, offered an explanation, and that was the 
end of it." 

And that was the end of it ! Who knows ? Auto- 
crats have singularly sensitive minds. And for that 
matter, the friendship of the two Emperors was not 
so firm as they would have the world believe, and 
Alexander retained the instinctive distrust natural 
to a man accustomed to the catastrophes of his 
country. An instance of this is given by Victor 
Oudinot, whom we have seen as a Guide at Zurich, 
and who was at this time one of the Emperor's 
pages : 

One day, he sa)'s, the iMiipcrors, when out rid in^^, were 
suddenly stopped by a ditch which their horses refused to 



MARSHAL OUDINOT 79 

jump. I put mine to the gallop, leapt the ditch, and dis- 
mounted ; then, taking Napoleon's horse by the bridle, 
I persuaded it to cross the obstacle. Alexander, spurring 
his horse, also reached the other side ; but the effect of 
the shock was that his sword-belt broke and his sword fell 
to the ground. I picked it up ; and Napoleon, seeing 
what I was doing, said, " Keep that sword and bring it to 
me later." Then looking at Alexander, " You have no 
objection, Sire?" he added. 

Quick as thought, an expression of surprise and of vague 
apprehension came into the Czar's eyes. But soon, resum- 
ing his calm and confident attitude, he in few words gave 
his assent. 

On dismounting from his horse, Napoleon said to Con- 
stant, his valet, " Keep this sword of Alexander's, and give 
Oudinot one of mine." Then, to me, " Take this sword 
to my brother of Russia, and beg him in my name to 
consent to this exchange of arms." I hurried with it to 
the Czar, who, on hearing my errand, ordered me to tell 
Napoleon that in a few moments he would express to him 
personally his very sincere gratitude. The Grand -Duke 
Constantine, who was with Alexander, let fall these words, 
" I say. Monsieur Oudinot, if your august master were to 
give me one of his swords, I should take it to bed with 
me ! " I repeated these words to Napoleon, who made 
me go back at once to the Grand-Duke with a sword 
which was received with transports of joy, although it was 
not quite the same as that which the Emperor usually 
carried. 



8o MEMOIRS OF 

At the breaking up of the Congress, Oudinot 
received marks of esteem from all the sovereigns, 
with the exception of the King of Wurtemberg. 
Alexander gave the Governor a gold snuff-box, en- 
riched with diamonds of great value, Constantine 
heard of this present, and determined to make one 
himself which should be original, if not very costly. 

" Faith, my dear General," he said, " I am only 
a younger son ; I am very sorry to have nothing 
better to offer you than my plume." 

With that he unfastened the old bunch of cock's 
feathers from his hat and presented it gracefully to 
Oudinot, expecting him to hoist it on the spot for 
love of him. It was difficult to make him under- 
stand that a French uniform did not lend itself at all 
well to this feathered decoration. 

These demonstrations of friendship were vain, 
as events soon showed. After Erfurt, Napoleon 
hastened to Spain, where the bad condition of our 
affairs required his presence ; and no sooner did 
Austria feel that he was inextricably engaged in the 
heart of the Peninsula, in all the turmoil of that 
disastrous expedition, than she began to think of 
taking advantage of these difficulties to revenge 
herself for the campaign of 1805. The Emperor had 
to be everywhere at once. He reappeared suddenly 



MARSHAL OUDINOT 8r 

in Paris in January 1809, in order to hurry on 
the preparations for a new campaign against the 
Monarchy of the Hapsburgs. 

Oudinot, who was in cantonment at Hanau, near 
Frankfort-on-Main, received orders to enter the 
Kingdom of Bavaria, whose Sovereign was then 
our ally, and to march along the right bank of the 
Danube as far as Augsburg, the extreme end of our 
lines on that side. He was there joined by his old 
friend and leader, Massena, who assumed the com- 
mand of the army corps. They stayed there some 
time before the commencement of hostilities ; but 
when the Archduke Charles unexpectedly opened 
the campaign and endeavoured to cut them off from 
Davout, who was at Ratisbon, they marched for- 
ward eagerly in order to effect their junction with 
the Marshal. After a sharp encounter with the 
Austrians at Pfaffenhofen, they reached the Isar in 
time to make sure of winning the Battle of Landshut 
(12 April). 

The victory of Ratisbon drove back the Arch- 
duke Charles upon the left bank of the Danube, 
while the Archduke Louis was held in check 
upon the right. The whole French army now de- 
scended the river along the right bank, striving to 
prevent th^ junction of the Archdukes. Oudinot was 



82 MEMOIRS OF 

ill the advance-guard with Massena, and to them 
fell the laborious task. They crossed the Inn 
and entered Upper Austria. On the ist of May, 
Oudinot had a brisk and successful encounter with 
the enemy at Ried. On the 4th, a tremendous 
combat took place at the crossing of the Traun, 
with the object of carrying the town of Ebersberg 
and its castle, perched upon a height. The contest 
was exceptionally fierce. The shells set fire to the 
town; it w^as taken, lost, and taken again; or rather, 
all that was captured was a heap of smoking 
ruins, where the air w^as so stiflincr that it was im- 
possible to penetrate into what remained of the 
streets. The wounded were left to die. The next 
day. Napoleon himself, used as he was to massacre, 
was unable to refrain from manifesting his horror. 

On the 9th, Oudinot was encamped within mus- 
ket-shot of the walls of Vienna. The capital, al- 
though in a weak state of defence and badly gar- 
risoned, prepared to resist, so greatly was the 
patriotism of the inhabitants excited against the 
French. After vainly demanding a capitulation, 
the General forced the suburb of Maria- Hilf. As 
he passed through the streets, a canncMi-ball struck 
the angle of a house at two steps from him ; the 
Grenadiers received stones and boiling water poured 



MARSHAL OUDINOT 83 

down from the windows. But the shells set fire to 
the theatre and to different parts of the town ; it 
was unable to sustain a siege and was soon reduced 
to open its gates. 

The French now found themselves in the same 
situation from which a subterfuge had released them 
four years earlier : although masters of Vienna and 
of the right bank of the Danube, they were obliged 
to go and put down the enemy on the left bank. 
But this time, instead of the remnants of an army, 
the Archduke Charles had at his disposal one hun- 
dred and fifty thousand men, and so great a mass 
would not allow itself to be surprised either by 
Massena's artifice or Oudinot's dash. After a pro- 
longed examination, Napoleon resolved to cross the 
stream below Vienna, at the spot where it divides 
into two arms containing between them the large 
island of Lobau. The action commenced on the 
2 1 St, at Essling, and remained undecided. Oudinot 
crossed the river on the night of the 21st and oc- 
cupied the centre, having on one side the village of 
Aspern, held by Massena, and on the other that of 
Essling, held by Lannes. He pushed forward, 
drove in the Austrian centre, and was on the point 
of separating the two wings, when suddenly he learnt 
that the bridge of boats joining the island of Lobau 



84 MEMOIRS OF 

to the right bank had broken down. The Emperor, 
fearing that the ammunition, which was already- 
running short, would give out entirely in the thick 
of the fray, gave the order to fall back. Lannes 
and Oudinot saw the victory, which seemed within 
their grasp, snatched from them. They retreated step 
by step, making head to the enemy ; the Grenadiers 
suffered terrible losses, but without discouragement, 
thanks to the gallant bearing of their chief, who 
was himself wounded in the arm. 

Upon the death of Lannes, who was slain during 
this retreat, Oudinot was thought worthy of the 
very great honour of replacing him at the head of 
the 2nd Corps. 

" The Emperor," said the tenth Bulletin dc la 
Grande Armde, "has given the command of the 
2nd Corps to the Comte Oudinot, a general tried in 
a hundred fights, in which he has displayed equal 
courage and judgment " (2 May 1S09). 

Unable to mount his horse because of his wound, 
Oudinot returned in his carriage to the island of 
Lobau, where the army took up a strong position 
while awaitino: the construction of brido-es strono- 
enough to ensure a solid base to the operations. 
Six weeks were necessary to conij^lete these great 
works. At last, on the 4th of June, at 9 o'clock in 



MARSHAL OUDINOT 85 

the evening-, Oudinot received the order once more 
to commence the passage, a truly wonderful exploit, 
considering the number of troops engaged (150,000 
men on either side) and the difficult position of the 
French army in having to fight with its back to a 
great river, into which it could be flung in case of 
defeat. ^ 

Oudinot's soldiers, crossing in great barges, sur- 
prised the enemies' sentries, and speedily captured 
a redoubt known as the White House, despite a 
terrible storm which suddenly burst upon them. 
In order to facilitate the passage of Massena and 
Davout, Oudinot pressed forward between the 
White House and the hamlet of Muhleiten, shell- 
ing on his right the castle of Sachsengang, held 
by an Austrian battalion ; at daybreak the little 
garrison surrendered. 

By seven o'clock the advance-guard was mounting 
the lower slopes of the plain, and at nine the army 
was drawn up in line before the heights of Neusiedel 
and Wagram, occupied by the Archduke Charles. 
Having Massena on his left and Davout on his right, 
Oudinot was in the evening at Grosshofen, in pre- 
sence of the corps of Hohenzollern, from which he 
was separated by a stream called the Russbach. 
Napoleon wishing to finish the business by the 



86 MEMOIRS OF 

evening of the 5th, he flung- himself upon the village 
of Baumersdorf, but at the same moment a portion 
of Macdonald's troops fired by mistake upon our 
allies the Saxons, and the latter, seized with panic, 
gave way on all sides. This incident compelled us 
to abandon the attack. 

The next morning, Oudinot received or(5ers not to 
attack, at least so long as the Archduke Ferdinand 
did not advance ; but this eventuality was doubtful. 
In any case, when he saw that Davout had succeeded 
in occupying the heights of Neusiedel, which were 
easily captured owing to the gentleness of their slope, 
he understood that the possession of these ridges by 
our troops would make the heights of Wagram more 
accessible. The latter were very steep and formed 
the key of the position. In spite of his instructions, 
he crossed the Russbach, attacked Baumersdorf a 
second time, carried it, and continued his march 
forward, notwithstanding the opposition of the Aus- 
trians, who sheltered themselves in the clefts in the 
soil in order to fire at their ease. But nothinof could 
check his impetuosity, although his left car was 
pierced by a bullet and his horse killed beneath 
him. Massing his battalions, he drove in the 
enemy's squares, and forced his way to Wagram, 
where he received a bullet in his ihi^h. Neverthe- 



MARSHAL OUDINOT 87 

less, he held out until the victory was assured. By 
three o'clock in the evening the enemy was retreating 
at every point. 

The next day Napoleon said to Oudinot : 

" Do you know what you did yesterday ? " 

" I trust, Sire, I did not too badly do my 
duty." 

"What you did was . . . you deserved to be 
shot!" 

Some days later, in a letter to the Minister for 
War, dated Schonbrunn, 29th July 1809, the Em- 
peror expressly says : 

"It was General Oudinot who took Wagram on 
the 6th, at mid-day." 

And in the order of the day of the 5 th of August, 
he confirms the fact : 

"His Majesty owes the success of his arms to the 
Due de Rivoli and Oudinot, who pierced the centre 
of the enemy at the same time that the Due 
d'Auerstadt turned their left." 

The French pursued the Austrlans as far as 
Znaim, where the last battle took place, and where 
a truce was signed on the 12th of July. On the 
morrow, Oudinot, exhausted with fatigue, was camp- 
ing amid his men on that road to Moravia which 
had twice been watered with his blood. He was 



88 MEMOIRS OF 

simply stretched on a truss of straw, when Colonel 
de Flahaut entered his tent and handed him a 
sealed missive from the Emperor : it was Oudinot's 
promotion to the rank of Marshal, a worthy recom- 
pense to a career so well fulfilled. 

A month later he received the domain of Reggio, 
in Calabria, with the title of duke, and a grant of 
eighty thousand francs per annum. 

It was just at the time when the news of these well- 
deserved rewards reached Bar, says the Duchesse de Reggio, 
that we arrived there to spend the remainder of the summer 
at my sister's. She prepared to go and offer her congratu- 
lations to the Duchesse de Reggio, and remembering her 
gracious reception of me in the preceding year, I asked and 
readily obtained leave to accompany Christine. I there- 
fore went with all my heart to offer my sympathy to her 
upon whose head were accumulating all the titles and 
honours which were later to revert to me. How strange a 
thing is destiny ! 

In the midst of her happiness and her legitimate triumph, 
the new Mar6chale remained as kind and as single-hearted 
as in the past. 

Among the numberless letters of congratulation received 
at this period was the following from the Emperor of 
Russia : 

" Monsieur Ic marcchal, I take too lively a part in all 



MARSHAL OUDINOT 89 

that interests yourself not to express to you the pleasure 
with which I heard of your promotion to the rank of Mar- 
shal. It is as sincere as the esteem in which I hold you. 
It is always a matter of satisfaction to me to recall the day 
upon which I made your acquaintance, and I beg you to 
believe in the sentiments with which I am always yours, 

{Signed) " ALEXANDER." 

Reply of Marshal Oudinot, Due de Reggio, to 
the Emperor Alexander. 
" Sire, 

" I did not think it would be possible for me to experience 
twice in my life a feeling of satisfaction and, if I may say 
so, of enthusiasm equal to that with which I was seized at 
Erfurt, when Your Majesty completed the favours with 
which you had deigned to honour me, during the too short 
moments I had the happiness of spending with you, by 
making me the inestimable gift of your portrait ; but, 
Sire, the letter which I have just received from Your 
Majesty has, if that be possible, moved me still more deeply. 

" The recollection of a Prince who is as good as he is 
great and powerful swells my heart with noble pride, while 
at the same time it fills it with the liveliest and most 
respectful gratitude ; and I have ventured. Sire, to think 
that, having obtained the most brilliant proofs of the favour 
of my Sovereign, nothing is so glorious as not to be judged 
unworthy of them by so enlightened an appreciator as 
Alexander. 

(Signed) " MARSHAL OuDiNOT, Due DE Reggio." 



90 MEMOIRS OF 

This was not the only mark of sympathy which the 
Marshal received from sovereigns of foreign countries. 
And yet he had attained his position by fighting against 
them ! Your hearts and your intelligence can draw their 
own conclusions from these facts. 

Towards the end of that winter one began to hear of the 
Emperor's divorce, and soon after of his marriage with an 
Austrian archduchess. These pieces of news seemed so 
extraordinary that they woke Vitry-le-Frangois from its 
habitual indifference to all that went on outside its little 
ramparts. 

The wedding had been celebrated in Austria by procura- 
tion, as is usual in the case of crowned heads. The 
Prince of Neuchatel (also Prince de Wagram) had repre- 
sented the Emperor at the ceremony. He brought back 
the Princess, who was eighteen years of age. 

The recollection of what I then saw in our little town 
was perhaps of some use to me later, when in different 
times and under another Princess I had to make many a 
country journey with her. 

One of our friends put her windows at our disposal near 
the hotel where Marie Louise alighted. Each moment the 
scene assumed a more varied and animated aspect. There 
arrived servants in the imperial livery, swaggering insolently 
about, puffed up with the effect produced upon the crowd 
by their brilliant trappings. Then came the Jiian'chaux dcs 
logis, hurrying to and fro with an air of importance, to take 
account of every one's lodging; civic authorities panting; 
a general unusual movement. 



MARSHAL OUDINOT 91 

The cannon thundered : couriers, covered in dust, crack- 
ing their whips, followed each other at short intervals, 
crying, " The Empress is at your gates ! " The carriage 
arrived, drawn by eight horses. It was followed by several 
others, all filled with the officers and ladies who had gone 
to receive the young Princess in Germany. 

We only caught a glimpse of Marie Louise. With her 
were her sister-in-law Murat, then Queen of Naples, and 
the Duchesse de Montebello, her Mistress of the Robes. 
All were dressed in purple, embroidered with gold — only 
the Empress's gown was richer than the others. 

Soon one of the Emperor's pages was seen riding up 
from Compiegne, smothered in dust. He had covered the 
whole distance at full speed, and he came to lay at his 
Empress's feet his master's bag, a brace of partridges shot 
by him the day before. 

It was at that time that the destiny of my two Paulines 
was decided, my best friends at Vitry. Pauline de Cloys 
married M. Brandon du Thil. Pauline de Montendre left 
that part of the country to live at Abbeville with her 
relations. 

As the latter and I strolled sadly along, bidding each 
other farewell beneath the trees of la Doutre, where we had 
been so happy, we made guesses at our futures. 

" It will be long before you return," I said to her. 
"They will marry you down there." 

"And you here? " she replied. 

A pause followed these words. We continued to walk 
along arm-in-arm. Lost in the endless unknown that 



92 MEMOIRS OF 

opens up before youth, Pauline, suddenly stopping, 
said : 

" Promise me to let me know of your marriage, as I will 
inform you of mine, by simply sending me a gold ring : 
the details will follow." 

Struck by the originality of this idea, I agreed, and 
added, " Yes, but if your betrothed or mine is decorated 
with the Legion of Honour, we must add a stone to the 
ring." 

"Very well," she replied, "but two stones if he is a 
baron." 

" Then three if he is a count," I cried. 

"And if he is a duke?" asked Pauline, 

"Ah! in that case the news must be announced by a 
cluster of diamonds," I replied, laughing heartily. 

We returned enlivened by this novel discussion. Soon 
after, we parted, and two years later it was I who de- 
spatched the cluster of diamonds. 

Oudinot was recalled to France at the end of 
December, in order to preside over the electoral 
college at Versailles, and was only able to stop a 
week at Bar-le-Duc. In February 1810, he was 
sent to Holland, in command of the army of the 
North, upon a very delicate mission. The Em- 
peror, jealous of his authority, considered tliat his 
brother Louis, whom he had placed upon the Dutch 
Throne to act as the docile proxy of the Imperial will, 



MARSHAL OUDINOT 



93 



did not show himself a sufficiently supple instru- 
ment, and that he was assuming airs of independent 
sovereignty". Anxious for the interests of which he 
had accepted the control, the King closed his eyes 
to the trade which his subjects drove with England, 
and nothing was more calculated to wound Napo- 
leon's pride. The arrival of our army therefore 
partook in itself of the nature of an ultimatum : 
either Louis and his people must submit, or the 
country would be annexed to the Empire. 

Though the order was a brutal one, the agent 
selected to put it in force was the man most capable 
of minimizing its cruelty. Although Holland had 
for a moment thought of burying itself beneath its 
waters to save its existence, as in the days of Louis 
XIV., Oudinot realized that his would be a peaceful 
rather than a military role ; it was not the hero of 
Friedland and Wagram, but the organizer of the 
Principality of Neuchatel, who was now called upon 
to show his talents. 

He did not at first penetrate into the heart of 
Holland, but stopped at this side of the Waal, at 
Bois-le-Duc, awaiting events and applying himself 
to rhaintaining the discipline of his troops, respecting 
customs, sparing individuals. His tact, his modera- 
tion, the wisdom of his conduct caused the always 



94 MEMOIRS OF 

humiliating presence of a foreign army to be accepted 
without collision, and when, affairs refusing to be 
arranged, he advanced beyond the Waal as far 
as Utrecht, the population took no umbrage at 
this progress. 

It was at Utrecht that the Marshal received the 
news of the death of the Duchesse de Reggio. His 
son Victor and M. Pierre, Mayor of Bar-le-Duc, 
who, from a feeling of respect for the illustrious 
native of Bar, had accompanied the young man, 
travelled to Holland to bring the painful tidings. 

I resume the narrative of Mme. la Duchesse 
de Reggio : 

In the spring of the same year, 1810, died at Bar 
Mme. la Marechale Oudinot. In spite of certain sufferings 
which preceded the catastrophe, it came much earlier 
than was foreseen. The Marshal was in Holland, charged 
with an important mission at once military and diplomatic, 
to wliich I shall have occasion to return. His eldest son 
Victor, a lieutenant in the mounted Chasseurs of the Im- 
perial Guard, was scarcely in tim.e to give his last caress to 
his mother. He himself undertook the sad task of carrying 
the melancholy news to his father. 

As I have already said, EHsc, the Marshal's eldest 
daughter, had been married two years earher to General 
Pajol. Next came Nicolettc, the second daughter; although 
she was not yet fifteen, her hand was promised to General 



MARSHAL OUDINOT 95 

Lorencez, who was then in Spain. Then came Auguste, 
a charming child of ten or eleven ; he was at the College 
at Bar, where he carried off all the prizes without an effort. 
He was followed by Elisa, who was then about eight years 
old. Last came dear little Stephanie, who was eighteen 
months. 

Apart from the well-earned regrets which followed the 
Duchesse de Reggio to the grave, who could remain in- 
different to the terrible loss endured by all her family? 
Who can witness unmoved the departure from this earth 
of the mother of six children ? 

Meantime Louis grew more stubborn in his 
policy of resistance, and rather than allow himself 
to be reduced to being his brother's lieutenant, he 
resolved to abdicate (i July 18 10). Oudinot forth- 
with made his entry into Amsterdam. During the 
past six months he had succeeded so well in making 
the French name beloved, that the army on its 
arrival met with a sympathetic reception on which 
it had far from reckoned : the people came out to 
meet it ; the dykes and trees were crowded with 
sight-seers ; in the town itself numerous flags floated 
from the windows ; the Dutch soldiers fraternized 
with ours in the barrack-rooms. But Cambier, the 
minister whose duty it was to hand over the capital 
to the French authorities, was unable to conceal his 



96 MEMOIRS OF 

sorrow at the disappearance of this proud Httle 
nation, which had fought for Its Hberty so bravely 
during centuries ; and he wept as he addressed the 
Marshal. Oudinot felt all the natural bitterness 
which must needs fill that wounded heart, and he 
confessed his emotion by the brusque tones In w^hlch 
he tried to dissimulate It : 

" Come, come, Monsieur Cambier," he said, " don't 
cry like that, for, upon my word, I am ready to do 
the same, and what fools we should both look." 

The Due de Reggio spent the following months 
In superintending the cantonments of his troops, in 
visiting the country, and In commencing its assimila- 
tion to France. 

In 1811 he divided his time between Holland, 
where he served as guide to Napoleon and Marie- 
Louise on the occasion of their visit, and Bar-le- 
Duc. But here I must allow the author of these 
Memoirs herself to narrate events with which she 
was so intimately connected : 

After my sister's recovery, we left Bar, where Marshal 
Oudinot was expected. A year had elapsed since his 
wife's death ; a thousand interests called to him in \-ain ; 
his military and political mission in Holland had set an 
absolute obstacle to his return home before the time of 
which I speak. 



MARSHAL OUDINOT 97- 

Nothing could be more interesting, my children, than 
the documents relating to this great piece of business. It 
was even more diplomatic than military. Your father was 
able to achieve a really unhoped-for result, since he at once 
satisfied the highest wishes of the Emperor, acquired a 
right to the gratitude of the Sovereign he had dethroned, 
thanks to the carefulness of his procedure, and lastly was 
able to obtain the esteem and sympathy of the State he 
had invaded ; all this in the face of unspeakable difficulties 
and obstacles. 

All that refers to this fine page in your father's life is 
to be found in the archives of our house. I have al- 
ready spoken of the homage paid him by the City of 
Amsterdam in 181 1. Why should I not mention now 
the remarkable souvenir which came, some years later, to 
prove that, in spite of revolutions, and conflicting interests, 
what is just and fine always remains? 

When the House of Orange, after the Peace, resumed 
its reign in Holland, the King of that country sent the 
grand cross of his orders to the Due de Reggio, whom he 
had never seen, but whom he had learnt to know by the 
memories of justice, disinterestedness and loyalty which 
he had left behind him. 

But let us return to my mother at Vitry, who had finally 
taken her resolution, so constantly postponed, to realize 
her property in Franche-Comte. As this kept her very 
busy, she often sent me to my aunt the canoness, an 
excellent, sensible woman, who always began by allowing 
me to paint the future in the bright colours which are 



98 MEMOIRS OF 

pleasing to youth, and little by little, with her power of 
reasoning and her experience, brought me back to the 
realities of life. 

At last my mother fixed the date for her departure and 
mine on the long-planned journey to Franche-Comte. Wc 
intended at first to go by Saint-Dizier and Langres, picking 
up on our way our man of business, M. Paillot, a notary of 
Bar, when my brother-in-law wrote to my mother urging 
her to fetch the lawyer at Bar itself. She decided to do so, 
and we were making our preparations when a second and 
more explicit letter arrived, which informed my mother of 
an urgent personal invitation from Marshal Oudinot to an 
evening party at which his daughter, the Comtesse Pajol, 
Avas to do the honours. " The Marshal's insistence," wrote 
my brother-in-law, "seems to us to point to a preconceived 
plan ; his repeated enquiries after my sister-in-law incline 
us to believe that he wishes to ask you for her hand in 
marriage." 

This overture gave my mother food for deep reflection, 
Avith the result that she sent a messenger forthwith to fetch 
my uncle at Hancourt. He arrived without delay, and 
encouraged my mother to decide in favour of the road by 
Bar over that by Langres. 

"Why should you hesitate," said he, "to select the road 
which naturally takes you to your children ? Are you 
alarmed at the distinguished attention paid n'ou b}- such a 
man as the Due de Reggio? To accept it in no case com- 
mits you any further than all the others invited ; and sup- 
posing, what is still very uncertain, that there is some idea 



MARSHAL OUDINOT 95 

of marriage for Eugenie beneath it, would you be justified 
in going out of the way of it, without first calculating the 
chances ? " 

This argument settled the question, and two days later 
we set out. Gustave was at school, and my mother, my 
nurse Rosalie and I travelled in my sister's carriage, which 
she had sent us from Bar, The weather was sultry and we 
were all asleep, when a sudden shock aroused us ; we had 
tumbled down the steep slope of Saudrupt, at the foot of 
which our carriage was violently upset. The windows were 
broken ; the glass wounded my left eye and cut a muscle 
in my mother's right hand, while my nurse, still more 
unfortunate than ourselves, was thrown off the box to the 
ground, where she lay insensible, with her head cut open. 

My sister's house was soon transformed into a kind of 
hospital. Dr. Moreau, a friend of my brother-in-law's, 
hastened to give my mother and me the benefit of his zeal 
and intelligence. He saved my eye by applying leeches, 
and set us on our feet in a very short time ; while his 
colleague Champion restored Rosalie to us in ten or twelve 
days after the catastrophe. 

The Marshal was dining at the same house as Dr. Moreau 
when the latter was hurriedly sent for, with the exaggerated 
report that Mme. and Mile, de Coucy had been carried to 
Mme. de la Gueriviere's more dead than alive. The Mar- 
shal was thunderstruck ; and soon returning home, he 
begged his daughter, the Comtesse Pajol, and Mile, 
Oudinot, since Comtesse de Lorencez, to call and make 
enquiries. 



100 MEMOIRS OF 

Meantime, the whole town was set in a fern'icnt by our 
accident. Apart from the interest that people were kind 
enough to take in us and in M. and Mme. de la Gueriviere, 
who were very popular, a fact had occurred which mightily 
stirred public curiosity. The Marshal had countermanded 
his reception, giving frankly as his reason the distress 
inspired by our condition. 

A few days elapsed, when suddenly the Marshal sent to 
ask my mother on what day and at what time he might 
call and personally assure himself of our progress. 

He arrived, accompanied by his son Auguste in a col- 
legian's uniform. I attentively examined the child and 
the father. The latter had shaved his mustachios ; his 
figure and his step, which were impeded by his wound 
when 1 first saw him, had resumed their normal state, 
and his whole appearance seemed to me as attractive 
as it was distinguished. I had just arrived at this opinion 
when the Marshal turned to me and put a question 
specially directed to my condition. So much interest 
was displayed in his words that my brother-in-law, im- 
pelled by a movcincnt for which he was quite unable to 
account to himself, raised my veil, and said, " See, mon- 
sieur le mar(^chal, what has happened to that poor young 
face." The keen, rapid glance Avhich the Marshal threw 
upon me will never leave my memory. It was one of 
curiosity mingled with lively interest. We exchanged 
monosyllables, and he soon took his leave and with- 
drew, leaving a most favourable impression upon my 
mother. 



MARSHAL OUDINOT loi 

We had also seen Mme. Pajol, who was in very weak 
health at the time, and who had left for Plombieres, where 
her father was to join her. He continued to send to en- 
quire ; and a few days before his departure, he returned in 
person, and found us well and cheerful. This time the ice 
was broken. The conversation was easier on both sides. 
Your father was charming, and told us many curious anec- 
dotes of his interesting career. 

The day after the Marshal's second visit, we v/ere just 
going out for a walk, about eight in the evening, when 
Pils, the Marshal's valet, came up with a note for M. de la 
Gueriviere, and stopped him as he was about to accompany 
us. We had already taken a i&w steps. 

" Go on without me," he said ; " the Marshal wishes to 
see me ; I will go round to him." 

With a common accord, and without exchanging a word, 
we returned at once to the house, and sitting down in the 
drawing-room, awaited my brother-in-law's return. He 
was away a long time. Evening fell, and the daylight 
gave way to a fine moonlight night. All the sounds of 
the town had ceased one by one. Thus, in complete 
silence, and without any light but that of the moon, we 
waited till eleven o'clock. At last steps were heard in 
the distance, and soon M. de la Gueriviere's tall figure 
appeared before us. 

Throwing his hat on a chair, he came up to me, and 
said : 

" Sister, would you like to marry Marshal Oudinot ? " 

V/e all three gave a single cry. It was one of delight, 



102 MEMOIRS OF 

not of surprise; for without confessing it to one anotlier, 
we had for some hours guessed the real reason for this 
interview. 

None of us spoke; and my brother-in-law, striding to 
and fro, sought to gather the necessary calmness to fulfil 
his errand conscientiously. At last, turning to my mother, 
he told it her more or less in these words : 

" I found the Marshal awaiting me impatiently. When 
he saw me, he familiarly and confidently took my arm, led 
me to his room, and said, ' I can no longer remain in the 
position into which my bereavement has thrown me. I 
want to marry a woman young enough to be able to mould 
herself, without eftbrt, to my character and habits. Both for 
my children's sake and my own, I wish to find guarantees 
of security in her family, her education and her principles ; 
instead of a fortune, I hope to find simple and modest 
tastes. As soon as I began to entertain the idea of con- 
tracting a new union, my memory went back to your 
young sister-in-law. I considered that she must unite 
in her own person all the conditions I have named. Will 
you undertake to put before her and her mother the wishes 
I entertain .'*' Without giving me time to reply, the 
Marshal continued, 'She knows that I have six children ; 
but they are good children, who will only look at my 
happiness in the step 1 am contemplating. Tell Mile, de 
Coucy also that I am forty-four years old, and that I have 
five hundred thousand francs a year. My social position 
is well known, and I shall be happy to share it with 
her.' 



MARSHAL OUDINOT 



103 



"That," resumed my brother-in-law, "is the purport of 
the first and most important part of our conversation. The 
Marshal leaves for Plombieres to-morrow, and he has 
asked me to despatch an express to him in a few days to 
bring him your reply." 

Thereupon all three turned to me, and I saw that I 
should have to give my decision ; but, before all, I wished 
to know the opinion of my mother, who said, " No, I will 
not direct you in this. The position offered you is too 
well known ; the person who offers it is too celebrated ; 
you yourself understand the question too well for me to 
seek to influence you. This important decision rests with 
you alone." 

" Well, then," said I, " I accept ! " 

The confidence with which the Marshal asked of me his 
own happiness and that of his family, which included some 
very young children, placed this mission before me in such 
touching, such honourable colours, that I put on one side 
all that was perilous in it : I seemed not to have the right 
to refuse. Why should I not add that the glory of that 
name placed a great weight in the balance? 

I shall not relate here all the details of my first private 
interview with the Marshal, in which were laid, so to speak, 
the foundations of our future. Your father was at once 
frank, communicative, and full of compassion for me, under- 
standing my agitation and embarrassment, and when, after 
half an hour, my mother and sister returned, they found me 
reassured and full of gratitude. Thenceforward the Mar- 
shal came to visit us quite simply. He also invited us to 



I04 MEMOIRS OF 

a great ceremonial dinner at his house, at which Mme. 
Poriquet, the sister of the Marshal's first wife, received his 
guests. I there met again, for the first time for about four 
years, the Marshal's eldest son. The lapse of time, his 
change of uniform, his graver and more serious air would 
have prevented me from recognizing him elsewhere than at 
his father's. 

We also spent a couple of days at Jeand'heurs. The 
entertainments were to last a week longer, but my mother 
resisted all persuasion to prolong our visit, and it was then 
that she had a serious interview with the Marshal. 

" I am going to Vitry, and from there to the country," 
said my mother. 

" And I," replied the Marshal, " before returning to 
Holland, where the Emperor has ordered me once more, 
will first go to Paris to take him into our confidence. 
I will send you my news ; permit me also to write direct 
to Mile, de Coucy." 

On the day of our departure from Bar, the Marshal came 
to say good-bye. I was much affected, and talked little. 
He accused me of coldness, and complained to my sister, 
who wrote and told me of it ; but the cloud soon passed 
away. 

The Marshal wrote that he had seen the Emperor at 
Rambouillet, who, after receiving the confidence of liis 
projected marriage, told him that before all he must return 
to Holland to complete his work there and prepare the 
country to receive the Emperor himself as its new Sovereign. 
He added that he would be accompanied by Marie Louise, 



MARSHAL OUDINOT ic, 

and that he would rely entirely upon the Marshal to see 
that they were well received. This was so difficult an 
undertaking that we at once understood how much time 
and care would be required for the task. 

Meantime the Marshal had gcme straightway to Holland, 
whence he wrote to us frequently, but briefly, and we were 
unable to find in his letter any reference to an approaching 
solution. As a matter of fact, he did not yet know the date 
of the Imperial journey, and on the other hand he had hard 
work before him, as I have said, to persuade the country, 
all bruised with the last measures of which it was the 
victim, to put on its holiday clothes in order to conceal 
its wounds. 

We spent the long summer entirely at Hancourt and 
Lentilles. The weather was marvellously fine ; every 
night, under an Italian sky, we went out to admire the 
famous comet, and I vow I owe it as much gratitude as 
did the wine-growers for the celebrated vintage it brought 
them ; for it furnished many a subject of idle conversation 
at that period of my life when it was so often necessary to 
hide my thoughts beneath insignificant phrases. 

Certainly, these were generally serious ; but I should 

be wanting in sincerity if I failed to confess that there 

were a few frivolous thoughts mingled among them. I 

often thought of that young Empress of whom I had caught 

so rapid a glimpse, not dreaming at the time that anything 

would bring me nearer to her. I thought of the Emperor, 

who would speak to me, and to whom I should have to 

reply, when I was presented to him. The Marshal had 
8 



io6 MEMOIRS OF 

amused himself by frightening me about the Imperial 
Court and the great world of Paris. 

Autumn came and found us still at Lcntilles, where 
we received the first details of the Emperor's journey. 
Their Majesties had been well received. It was an ad- 
ministrative tojir de force on the part of the Due de Reggio. 
The Emperor believed, or pretended to believe, that the 
country had rallied to him completely ; he expressed his 
great satisfaction to the Marshal, who accompanied him to 
the extreme frontier. The Marshal mentioned his mar- 
riage projects a second time. "Go," said the Emperor, 
"go and marry Mile, de Coucy ; I give my entire con- 
sent." 

Without losing a moment, the Marshal went to Amster- 
dam, received the heartfelt adieux of that city, crossed 
Paris, and arrived at Bar, where interests of every kind 
imperiously demanded his presence. Already war was 
talked of, and the Marshal was informed that he would 
soon receive the command of an army corps. 

The Marshal invited himself to breakfast with my 
mother on Christmas Eve 1811. I rose in a state of 
great excitement by the pale light of that 24th of 
December. My mother had only summoned to that 
intimate breakfast my aunt the canoness, and M. Orisi, 
a charming old man, her friend and ad\iser. All was 
arranged and warmed in my mother's little house by nine 
o'clock in the morning ; my excitement increased from 
minute to minute, and it had reached its summit when, at 
ten o'clock, the Marshal, accompanied by my brother-in-law, 



MARSHAL OUDINOT 107 

rang gently at the door. I had reckoned on the noise of a 
carriage to prepare me for the interview ; but the travellers 
had left their equipage and their servants at the post- 
house, and had come on foot to the Rue de Frignicourt, 
where we lived. 

I awaited the signal in my room. La Gueriviere came 
to fetch me, and his radiant air gave me courage. In a 
moment I realized that I must try and dominate a childish 
timidity for which the time was past. The breakfast was 
gay and charming. The general conversation was resumed 
in the drawing-room, and the Marshal and M. d'Orisi 
sparkled with a thousand delightful pleasantries. They 
took a liking to one another, and the dear old man re- 
mained till the day of his death the adorer of his new 
friend. I was very fond of M. d'Orisi ; but if he had had 
no other title to my good graces than his friendly assist- 
ance that morning, that would have been sufficient to 
endear him to me. 

Soon, after a journey to Paris to draw up our marriage- 
contract, which the Emperor signed, the Marshal announced 
his arrival for the 12th of January (18 12); he had been 
appointed commander-in-chief of the 2nd Corps of the 
Grande Armee, and was shortly to go and see to its 
organization in Westphalia. The Emperor was urging 
his departure, and he, on his side, urged my mother to 
such a degree that, in spite of her good head and her 
activity, she almost gave way beneath the infinite details 
that bore down upon her. Soon, however, my whole 
family came to her aid, gathering round us and staying 



io8 MEMOIRS OF 

uith us until the wedding. My poor aunts de Lentilles 
alone were kept at home by their health, unable to face 
the winter, Avhich was very severe that year. As for me, 
my children, I knew not whether it was cold or hot. 

The Marshal informed us that he would be accompanied 
by almost his entire staff, and that he wished to invite a 
large number of his relations and of his friends at Bar-le- 
Duc ; and, as on our side too the guests were numerous, 
we had many lodgings to prepare, and a table of some 
fifty covers to provide for. 

At last the i8th arrived. I was dressed and down in the 
drawing-room, where the family was assembled, when at 
eleven o'clock a confused noise made us understand that 
the Marshal had arrived at his hotel. Soon the tumult 
increased and drew nearer, and we gathered that he was 
approaching the house. He was preceded by so great a 
crowd that his aides-de-camp had the greatest difficulty in 
clearing a w^ay for him. A guard of honour, composed of 
the pick of Vitry society, and commanded by that dear, 
good General de Possesse, whom you knew, afforded a 
brilliant mounted escort to the Marshal, who was on foot, 
in uniform, as were his son, his son-in-law, and all his staff. 
On reaching our door, at which stood waiting the men of 
my family, the Marshal stepped from among the gold-laced 
throng that accompanied him and entered the drawing- 
room alone. After bowing with the grace and dignity of 
which your father seemed to have the monopoly, he took 
me by the hand, beckoned to his friends, and presented 
them to me by name, commencing with his children ; then 



MARSHAL OUDINOT 109 

throwing up a window, without leaving hold of my hand, 
he told me with him to greet the commandant and the 
guard of honour. A cheer rose as from one throat, and 
the crowd joined in the cry of " Long live Marshal Oudinot, 
and long live the Emperor ! " 

On the 19th he came and spent some hours with my 
Aunt Clotilde and myself; this was the best part of the 
day, on which I had the bitter regret of only catching an 
occasional glimpse of my mother. At nightfall it was time 
to think of my toilette. The reception was to begin at 
seven o'clock, the supper was at nine, the civil marriage at 
eleven, and the religious ceremony at midnight. 

Messages succeeded one another to hurry my appearance 
in the drawing-room, where the Marshal and all the guests 
were assembled. Mme. Morel, my maid, fixed her hun- 
dredth pin. At last I followed my mother and found 
myself in the presence of my betrothed, his children, his 
officers, and the families and friends of each. As I said, 
there were several from Bar, including Messieurs Pori- 
quet, Pierre, Buffault, Gillon, the Prefect, and others, all 
strangers to my relations and to my Vitry friends ; it 
was natural that a little stiffness should reign at first. The 
Marshal was impatiently awaiting my entrance, which put 
an end to this state of constraint ; not that I was of much 
use, for I was simply stupid ; but I was the cause of a 
general movement which broke the ice. After the intro- 
ductions, some rubbers were arranged ; but I well remem- 
ber that no one attended to his game. My sister teased 
the Marshal by reproaching him with not having made 



no MEMOIRS OF 

himself smart enough for the occasion. He wore a simple 
undress uniform. They quarrelled for a moment in fun. 
Supper was announced at nine o'clock ; but just before, we 
were suddenly dazzled by the re-appearance of the bride- 
groom, who had escaped for a moment and now returned 
in his full uniform as a Marshal of the Empire. It was the 
first time I saw him in all his splendour; I was enraptured, 
and my admiration was in different degrees shared by all 
the witnesses. 

At last the hour came ; all was ready at the Mayor's ; 
we rose from the supper-table to step into the carriages. 

A crowd of people of our acquaintance filled the 
approaches and rooms of the niairie. They crushed with 
an eager curiosity to catch sight of the Marshal, who 
became the cynosure of all eyes. How proud I felt of 
him ! All the details are still present in my mind ; and I 
distinctly remember hearing at the foot of the stairs the 
words " The Duchesse de Reggio's carriage ! " uttered by 
the Marshal's chasseur, who was thus the first to pronounce 
my new name. 

When we arrived at the handsome parish church of 
Vitry, the scene assumed another aspect; and during the 
sacred ceremony I saw everything confusedly. The church 
was brilliantly lighted and, in spite of the lateness of the 
hour and the terrible weather, crammed with people. I 
felt, rather than saw, my family grouped behind me, while 
that of the Marshal and all the uniforms wore drawn up 
behind him. 

It had been arranged that our country friends, who had 




Patcvenie de Coucy 

MARECHALE OUDINOT, DUCHESSE DE REGGIO 



MARSHAL OUDINOT m 

not taken part in the gathering of the preceding day, should 
be invited to the farewell breakfast. Accordingly, on the 
morning of the 20th, I found assembled in the drawing- 
room, with my family, Messieurs and Mesdames de Bouvet, 
Duhamel, de Liniers, &c. Almost all the other wedding- 
guests had left. Some had gone back that morning to Bar ; 
and those from Paris, who were almost all about to join the 
coming campaign, had hastened back to their families and 
their affairs in the metropolis. 

The end of breakfast was the signal for departure. 
I anxiously watched the tearful face of my dear mother, 
vainly repeating to myself that I was only leaving her for 
a few days. 

Soon, the sound of carriages was heard and farewells ex- 
changed. I was pleased to see my sister taking her place 
in our carriage, which set out drawn by six horses at full 
speed. The Marshal chatted gaily with Christine, leav- 
ing me leisure to reflect on those I had just left on my 
mother's doorstep, throwing me their last adieux and 
blessings. 

The gates of the mansion at Bar stood open : General 
de Lorencez, his wife, Victor, and M. Gouy, the Marshal's 
bosom friend, who had all left Vitry in the early morning, 
were awaiting us. I also saw, for the first time, Colonel 
Chevallot, an old and faithful friend whom you well re- 
member. 

I had just entered my room when I was roused from my 
meditation by the sound of a door opening behind me. It 
was not that which communicated with the Marshal. I 



112 MEMOIRS OF 

was quickly reassured by hearing a light footstep and a 
woman's voice. In the darkness I recognised Mme. de 
Lorencez. "I have come to ask you," she said, "whether 
you do not think you should pay my grandfather a visit 
at home before meeting him at dinner." The kindness of 
this reminder moved me to tears ; and hastening to follow 
my step-daughter across the snow-covered avenues of the 
garden, I let her guide me to the house of my husband's 
father, in the street now known as the Rue Oudinot. He 
was a handsome old man of eighty-three ; he took me in 
his arms, and I was happy once more to pronounce the 
name of father, a word which I had not uttered for five 
years. 

Early the next day, Victor entered my room ; but it was 
another Victor. He did not seek to conceal his emotion. 
He came to ask me for my friendship ; and I had already 
inwardly promised it him before he asked for it. You 
know, my children, how constant it has been on both sides. 
The Marshal was charmed with my account of my inter- 
view with his son, and touched with the impulse which had 
led the young man to mc. 

The day did not pass without some emotions recalling 
those of the day before. For instance, I was much tried at 
the sight of Mme. Poriquet, the sister of the late Marcchale, 
who entered trembling and all in tears upon her husband's 
arm. I understood all that this formal \isit must have cost 
her ; but I have cause to believe that she guessed the .sym- 
pathy which her situation inspired in me, for from that day 
to the day of her death she was my friend. 



MARSHAL OUDINOT 113 

The Marshal's correspondence became more and more 
active, and the rumours of an approaching war with Russia 
increased from day to day. My husband said nothing as 
yet, and I was careful of questioning him as to the day 
of our separation, the vague thought of which so often, 
phantom-like, hovered between my happiness and my- 
self. 

M. Le Tellier, the first aide-de-camp, had gone, but he 
was replaced by Messieurs de Thermes and Jacqueminot. 
The latter, who was a native of Bar, kept the whole town 
moving. So soon as our great dinners were over and all 
the guests had left, messieurs the aides-de-camp, abandoning 
their full-dress uniforms, swords and head-dresses, organized 
daily soirees dansantes, in concert with the mothers of the 
young girls of the town. 

I must confess, since I am telling all that concerns me, 
that the first details that reached me of these improvised 
balls, in which formerly I would so gladly have taken part, 
made me commit the sin of envy ; but I took care not to 
let this be seen, realizing that I had taken up too serious 
a position to maintain a girlish attitude. Moreover, a 
salutary instinct habitually warned me against what was 
likely to displease the Marshal, and I often guessed his 
thoughts without consulting him. 

One evening, however, somebody had thought of playing 
dance-music in the dining-room after dinner. There had 
been a number of young married women and girls at 
this meal; one of the prettiest of the latter was Mile. 
Henrionnet, who has since become Mme. Landry-Gillon. 



.14 MEMOIRS OF 

This impromptu dance commenced witiiout the Marshal's 
seeming to disapprove of it, and without further reflection 
I mingled in it. 1 saw my husband disappear from the 
room, and soon followed him to his study. The result of 
our interview was that I gave up dancing for good, if not 
without regret, at least without a struggle. Besides, events 
would soon have put an end to this form of amusement, 
even if my mind had not been made up beforehand. 

The Marshal had resolved to take me with him, and to 
keep me by his side so long as the military operations did 
not assume too hostile a character. You can imagine my 
delight at learning this plan ! Devoted as I was to my 
husband,! saw at first nothing but the happiness of delaying 
our separation ; but it was not long before I became a 
little alarmed at the thought of the new era about to open 
before me. I foresaw that I should not enjoy the Marshal's 
constant presence, as at Bar ; and I dreaded lest I should 
be much left to myself 

The decision taken by General de Lorenccz brought 
me some consolation. He had been appointed chief of 
staff to the army corps commanded by the Marshal, and 
he too proposed to take his wife with him. Mmc. de 
Lorencez, who was only sixteen years of age, was morally 
thirty. Habitually silent and reflective, she could never 
be taken for indifferent, so prompt was the expression in her 
deep blue eyes. When she spoke, the sweetness of her 
voice and the charm of her pronunciation atoned for any 
too positive laconicism of her language. At rare intervals 
she was capable of the most communicative gaiety. She 



MARSHAL OUDINOT 



S 



was religious and charitable, and fulfilled all her duties as 
a natural thing. Every affection was deep and serious in 
that loving heart, which embraced all things. And finally 
her figure, her gait, her whole appearance were alike 
distinguished. 

The want of time and the severity of the season had 
prevented my making acquaintance with the younger 
children of my husband. The little girls were accordingly 
not sent for ; both were at school, one in Paris, the other 
at Nancy. I regretted this postponement, when one day 
I found Auguste in his father's study. More easy to bring 
over than his sisters, the Marshal had made him come to 
embrace us before our departure. I see him still, stand- 
ing by the mantel in his college dress ; and even if I had 
forgotten him, my own son Henry would restore to me 
his perfect image. 

M. Gouy held in his hands, with rare devotion, all the 
strings of the Marshal's numerous affairs. He conducted 
them better, with more zeal and application, than his own, 
working from morning to night to put everything on a 
good footing before that departure which might leave 
everything to be hoped or feared. At this time there 
were as many as seven agents of the Marshal's diverse 
interests. All of these, according to his wishes, came 
together with M, Gouy, who each year summed up the 
general situation. His penetrating eye discovered any 
irregularity ; he would point it out in his positive and 
often harsh phrases, without fearing the trouble of this 
work for himself, nor that which he caused the Marshal, 



ii6 ifEMOIRS OF MARSHAL OUDINOT 

whom he opposed without hesitation or scruple whenever 
he considered necessary. 

During this time no one thought (nor did I dream of it 
myself) of initiating me into the management of this fortune, 
of which I had but a very confused idea. I had scarcely 
even ventured to take up my role of mistress of the house ; 
for to give an order of any sort seemed to me a terrible 
business. All that I saw I thought so beautiful that I took 
no thought of the reverse of the medal. I therefore let 
myself live, during these early days, without asking if there 
were any other duties for me to perform than that of 
loving my husband and both our families. 



CHAPTER IV 



Preparations of war against Russia — Departure of the Due and Duchesse de 
Reggio for the army — Arrival at Munster — The Princesse d'Eckmtihl — 
The entry into Berlin — The Comte de Narbonne — Review of the French 
troops at Berlin — Oudinot's courtesy and consideration towards the King 
of Prussia — Increasing certainty of war — Oudinot's departure for Marien- 
werder — The duchess's return to Bar-le-Duc — The crossing of the Niemen 
— Oudinot Commander-in-Chief of the 2nd Corps — Victorious at Dewel- 
towo — His operations on the Dwina against Wittgenstein — He lures him 
into an awkward position, and defeats him on the Drissa — Increasing 
difficulties of the situation — Oudinot seriously wounded at Polotsk — The 
duchess joins him in Russia — Events of this long journey — Augereau — 
— First symptoms of discontent — Arrival at Wilna — The Due de Bassano 
— Oudinot resumes the command — The intense cold — The retreat — Devo- 
tion of M. Abrainowietz. 



We were a large travelling party, and in order to find a 
sufficient number of post-horses at every station, it was 
necessary to spread ourselves on the road. Two aides-de- 
camp were to open the route ; then came General and the 
Comtesse de Lorencez ; and the Marshal and I next, ac- 
companied by his secretary and all his household, in two 
carriages with six horses apiece. 

At last the day of departure came ; and here, my children, 
began the active and stormy life which has brought me, 
from excitement to excitement, up to the present date. I 
have since seen many happy days ; immense satisfactions, 
numerous gratifications awaited me; but these were destined 
to be mingled with so many trials, and crossed with such 



ii8 MEMOIRS OF 

terrible catastrophes, that I should infallibly have lost my 
head had the veil of the future been for a single moment 
raised before my eyes. 

On the 14th of February, two coaches and six awaited 
us in the court-yard at Bar. They set out before us, filled 
with the people I have mentioned above, who preceded us 
as far as the village of Naives. We arrived shortly, in a 
town carriage, in which my mother, my sister and my 
brother-in-law had mounted beside my husband and my- 
self. After exchanging our sad farewell adieux, I stepped 
alone with the Marshal into the first post-carriage. 

Till that day I had always moved in a narrow and 
monotonous circle. All was new to me; and though the 
road from Bar to Verdun has nothing very remarkable to 
ofier the traveller, and on this occasion was all covered 
with snow, I made remarks on everything I saw. 

It was night when we pulled up at the Hotel des Trois 
Maures. The charm of an inn has long since disappeared 
from my eyes ; but under the circumstances I am describ- 
ing to you, everything seemed delicious to me. Our gaiety 
added to the value of all things. The Marshal, delighted 
at returning to a life of activity, seemed radiant, and every- 
one underwent the same influence. 

It was Shrove Tuesday. Our windows were on the 
street, and we lost none of the carnival uproar that went 
on beneath. We were wide awake when they came to tell 
us, before day-break, that the horses were put to. A chill 
sleet was falling, and it was not until the sun put to flight 
the mist that I was enabled to resume my observations of 



MARSHAL OUDINOT iig 

the day before. These amused the Marshal, who said to 
me more than once, " Isn't the world large ? " 

The same day we passed through Dun, Stenay and 
Sedan. We were to sleep at Mezieres, the first fortified 
town I had seen. The ramparts, the draw-bridges, the 
gloomy archways, beneath which our heavy carriage 
rumbled, filled me with a fright which tickled the 
Marshal. We alighted at a well - warmed and well- 
lighted apartment, where the Marshal forthwith received 
numerous visits. I was astonished at the resignation with 
which he submitted to this performance at the close of 
a tiring day; but I soon learnt to grow used to it. He 
knew and received people wherever he went. Notably 
soldiers of all grades arrived from every side ; and their 
eagerness was explained by the amiable manner in which 
they were welcomed. 

The subsequent days we followed the banks of the 
Meuse by way of Namur, Liege and Maastricht ; and 
on the fourth we reached the Rhine, which we crossed 
by a bridge of boats at Wesel. On the sixth day we 
were to reach Munster, where the Marshal was to take 
the command of the first forces of the 2nd Corps of the 
Grande Armee. A military reception had been prepared 
for the General-in-Chief; and he was greatly annoyed to 
find the roads so bad that we were still two leagues from 
the city when night came to overtake us. 

Despite the darkness, I perceived a group of men on 
horseback, who came crowding round the carriage. Manly, 
jovial, resounding voices all simultaneously addressed the 



I20 MEMOIRS OF 

Marshal, who recognized by his voice each of the generals 
who were to find themselves under his orders. All spoke 
at once, each gave his name to make sure of being recog- 
nized, and in each name the Marshal seemed to find that 
of a friend. Alas ! what sad reflections that recollection 
evokes. Of those ten or twelve generals, all then in the 
prime of manhood, not one remains alive to-day. 

We reached the gates of Munster, escorted by this dis- 
tinguished company. The garrison turned out under arms 
and formed in line to the house of Baron von Drott, where 
we were to stay. There was no reception that night ; but 
the next morning the entire corps of officers, amounting in 
all to twelve hundred persons, arrived in full uniform, with 
the generals at its head, to pay its official visit, and my 
distress was great when I heard from the Marshal that 
after himself I was to receive these gentlemen, who had 
asked to be presented to me. I had therefore to summon 
up great resolution. It nearly failed me, however, at 
the first step I took in the vast salon, round which was 
ranged a three-fold row of ofiticers, waiting silently for me 
to appear among them. Suspecting my shyness, the 
generals stepped forward at once. They very obligingly 
surrounded me ; I felt my spirits return, and my timidity 
was thus concealed from the greater number. 

Yet another social duty was laid upon mc. The French 
were at that time the masters everywhere, and obtained on 
every hand an amount of homage which never failed them. 
It was perhaps to our power at that time that I owed the 
extreme politeness of the ladies of Munster. Perhaps also, 



MARSHAL OUDINOT 121 

and I prefer to think so, the Marshal's great name and 
pure renown contributed to this cordiality ; but the fact is 
that, on the second night after my arrival, I had to receive, 
at their own request, an endless number of countesses, 
baronesses and abbesses. This last title, which at first 
astonished me, is borne in that country like the two first, 
and carries with it neither ecclesiastical character nor 
obligations. The Munster abbesses were, like the other 
ladies of the nobility, their companions, covered with 
rouge, with flowers, feathers and jewels. They were all 
charming to me, and I returned their collective visit at 
what they called their club, where they met in great 
numbers one evening to receive me. 

Several emigrants of 1791 were also present at our 
receptions. They had met with so hearty a welcome 
during their exile from the numerous nobility of the 
district that many of them had settled down there. 
Among these were the Comte de Flamarens and the 
old Comte de Sesmaisons. At Munster, too, I first met 
the Abbe, who was then known as the Baron, Louis. He 
was charged by the Emperor with the financial organiza- 
tion of the country ; for Munster was the capital of a 
French prefecture, with the Comte de Saillant for its 
prefect. 

We next went to the pretty town of Hanover, where we 
were to stay. I spent part of our sojourn in visiting the 
city ; and with General and Mme. de Lorencez I went over 
the famous hot-houses of Herrnhausen, a pleasance occu- 
pied by Jerome Bonaparte, the King of Westphalia. 



122 MEMOIRS OF 

On the second day after our arrival, we entertained at 
dinner a number of French generals, who were gathered 
in the town, where the cavalry was being re-horsed. To 
amuse these gentlemen after dinner we played at rcversis, 
but although my step-daughter Lorencez and I were not 
naturally inclined to disparage or mock at our friends, we 
had great difficulty in retaining a simultaneous burst of 
laughter when it came to the turn of General Duverger, 
one of the four players, to deal. Tall and lean, his hair 
powdered and dressed into two pigeon-wings, which had 
quite gone out of fashion, he had the appearance of a 
mummy in uniform. He only just touched the cards with 
the tips of his fingers, without mo\-ing his elbows, and }'et 
they came to us straight as rain. I never saw anything 
like it. I hope that this worthy and antic|uated son of Mars 
paid too little attention to matters of this earth to notice 
the movements of our youth. Our two husbands, who 
had seen everything, reproached us at night for our tem- 
pestuous gaiety, although they made allowances for the 
fact that Mme. de Lorencez and I were onl\- thirt\--six 
years old between us. 

From Hanover we went to ]3runswick, and thence to 
Magdeburg, where we alighted in a large house on the 
parade-ground. Marshal Davout had just left it to go 
forward with his army corps, and in connection with this I 
will tell you of a singular mistake on the part of his wife, 
whom he had sent for to see him before he went further. 
It was before she arrived that he received the order to 
push forward immediately. The Princesse d'Eckmiihl had 



MARSHAL OUDINOT iz^ 

not had time to hear of this change of plan. She arrived 
from Paris during the night following our installation at 
Magdeburg, and, on mentioning her name, had the city 
gates opened for her, although it was after hours. She 
simply told the postilions to drive her to the Marshal's, 
and, when they pulled up at our door, she naturally wished 
to be admitted. This was refused her ; she sent for the 
aide-de-camp on duty, and although she did not recognize 
him as belonging to Marshal Davout, she insisted. It was 
then that M. Le Tellier said to her that this noise would 
awaken Mine, la Marechale ! At these words the Princesse 
d'Eckmiihl demanded and obtained explanations, and M. 
Le Tellier naturally placed himself at her disposal to find 
her a lodging for the remainder of this night, so stormy 
for her. She breakfasted with us the next day, and we 
laughed together at the misunderstanding. 

She was at that time exceedingly handsome, very much 
the princess, and very magnificent in her manners. I have 
always been on good terms with her ; but although our 
husbands used the second person singular in addressing 
one another, we never became intimate. 

To return to our departure and to our journey, which 
was resumed by military stages. It was a sign of the war, 
to which we were drawing near. My husband's carriage, 
in which I occupied a corner, travelled in the midst of his 
army corps. These were the orders we had received. 
Nevertheless, when within two days of Berlin, he thought 
he would be able to enter it alone ; but the Prince de 
Neuchatel, Major-General of the army and interpreter of 



124 MEMOIRS OF 

the Emperor's wishes, hearing of this, reproached my 
husband, and ordered him to return to the 2nd Corps 
and make a triumphal entry at its head into the Prussian 
capital. 

France and Prussia, which was nominally our ally, were 
in a very delicate position. Nobody doubted but that the 
friendship was forced rather than voluntary on the part of 
Prussia, and the result proved this to be the case. King 
Frederic William was to supply a contingent in the event 
of war with Russia, and naturally to permit the passage of 
our army. But while awaiting its arrival he had hastened 
to quit his capital and retire with his family to Potsdam. 
My husband was fully acquainted with this position of 
affairs, and his intention in entering Berlin alone had been 
to spare the King of Prussia the display of a triumphal 
entry into his capital. The Marshal thought it sufficient 
to accomplish a fact without wounding by the forms with 
which it was done ; but this was in no way the policy of 
the Emperor. 

We alighted at the Saken Palace, made ready and fur- 
nished for the Marshal by order of the King of Prussia, 
who moreover had sent in a complete domestic establish- 
ment: valets, butlers, cooks, footmen, and two town car- 
riages with their horses, the whole to be at the General- 
in-Chief's disposal during the whole length of his stay. 

Although surprised and ve.xed at this munificence, the 
Marshal felt that he was not at liberty to refuse it ; and I 
may add that this constraint bore upon him during all the 
time he rcnuiined in the town, where, as elsewhere, he 



MARSHAL OUBINOT 125 

succeeded in joining the military and diplomatic interests 
entrusted to him with the consideration due to the power 
of a Sovereign offended in his own country. 

France was represented at Berlin by the Comte de 
Saint-Marsan, a Sardinian by birth and an excellent man, 
which did not prevent him from being a brilliant and 
subtle diplomatist. He and your father understood each 
other capitally from the first. A little later there was 
added to them the Comte Louis de Narbonne, at that time 
aide-de-camp to the Emperor and standing very high in 
his favour. 

AH the memoirs of the time speak of this remarkable 
personage. I will only tell you that at a very early age he 
was Minister of War, for a moment, under Louis XVI., and 
that he only saved his head by emigrating. Later, when 
the time came, the Emperor gave him an excellent recep- 
tion, and began by paying some debts of which he had 
heard. A little later still, the Emperor discovered some 
others, and said to M. de Narbonne, " But, my dear count, 
have you still more debts } " " Why, Sire, it is all I ever 
had." And the Emperor paid again, and the dear old man 
consecrated to him until his dying day, which, alas, was 
not slow in coming, his devotion, his loyalty and his high 
intelligence. 

It was he who was charged with negociating the marriage 
between the Emperor and the Archduchess Maria Louisa 
of Austria. To a profound knowledge of men and things, 
and a loyal and well-considered scheme of policy, he added 
a charming wit. He was a man of fine manners, and he 



126 MEMOIRS OF 

restored the tradition of these to the new Court of the 
Tuilcrics. I shall never forget, not only the exquisite 
grace which he displayed in his relations with us, but also 
the kindness with which he sent me news of the Marshal 
from head-quarters, at a time when I was trembling for his 
safety. 

But to resume my story. The Marshal was accordingly 
obliged to ride at the head of his forty thousand men, and 
I saw them march past from our Ambassador's windows. 
It was a splendid sight ! Who could have foretold then 
that those numerous battalions, that brilliant cavalry, that 
fine and imposing artillery would for the greater part re- 
main sunk in the snows of Russia, nine short months later } 

As I was in Berlin, as it were, as contraband, I remained 
indoors as much as possible, delighted when my husband's 
ever multiplying obligations permitted him to join me. In 
the midst of this immense palace, I by preference used a 
little silent, secluded drawing-room, which was decorated in 
perfect taste. It contained a pretty tea-table which I was 
told had been placed there for me and which had belonged 
to the beautiful Queen of Prussia. 

My health was somewhat indifferent, and compelled me 
to dine by myself, in order to avoid the fatigue of a table 
always occupied by my husband's military household and 
a crowd of visitors. Nevertheless the Marshal sometimes 
insisted on my appearing to entertain some notability 
brought there by circumstances. In this way I made the 
acquaintance of Marshal Victor, Due de Bcllunc, Marslial 
Ncy, Due d'Klchingen, and Generals Sebastiani, dc La 



MARSHAL OUDJNOT 127 

Riboisiere and many others, some of whom passed through 
Berlin never to return. 

It was said that the Emperor was preparing to leave 
Paris to place himself at the head of the forces drawn up 
in echelon from the Rhine to the Vistula, and divided 
into twelve army corps, amounting in all to four or five 
hundred thousand men. 

Marshal Davout commanded the 1st Corps ; he had 
under him General Pajol, who commanded the cavalry. 
The latter had with him his wife, whom I had not seen 
since she became my step-daughter. When the ist Corps 
received its marching orders, General Pajol resolved to 
send his wife to join her father in Berlin, so that her journey 
back to France might coincide with mine. I was much 
moved when I saw her. Although my friendship with 
your elder sister was longer in forming than that with her 
junior, it became none the less sincere, as you were enabled 
to judge during the short time you were permitted to know 
Mme. Pajol. Yes, the years developed in her those quali- 
ties of heart and charms of mind of which she had brought 

o 

such fertile roots, and I mourned her the more since she 
had never given me greater proofs of affection than at the 
moment when she was taken from us in so crushing a 
manner. 

But to return to the days of our first relations, I must 
say that we were only in perfect accord in our regrets at 
the approaching separation from our husbands and our 
terrible fears of what was to follow. She described to us, 
with sorrowful energy, her adieux at Dantzig, where she 



128 MEMOIRS OF 

had left General Pajol ; and she told us that, when her 
carriage broke down six leagues from there, she had 
thought herself happy in being able to exaggerate the 
difficulties of her position in the midst of a disordered 
country in order to send for her husband to come to her 
assistance and thus embrace him yet once more in spite of 
what they had regarded as their final leave-taking. Ah ! 
at that time the adieux of soldiers and their families were 
cruel indeed. 

At last the fatal day also approached for Mme. de 
Lorcnccz and myself. The order to depart arrived, and 
while the Marshal prepared to set out for IMarienwerder, 
he gave orders and made arrangements to send his two 
daughters and me back to Bar-Ie-Duc. 

On the 2nd of May 1812, five post-carriages obstructed 
the court-yard of the Saken Palace. The IMarshal and 
General Pajol despatched the three first, which contained 
us and our belongings, and then stepped with their officers 
into the two others, which took the opposite. direction, pro- 
ceeding towards the seat of war while we went towards 
P^rance. 

My two step-daughters bore with them expectations of 
motherhood which had been denied to mc, and my grief at 
the moment was so intense that it prevented mc from 
thinking of the consolation that awaited me of meeting my 
family again. Mme. Pajol, who was alone in her carriage, 
went ahead to order our night's lodging. I followed in 
m.ine, accompanied by Mme. de Lorencez, who had begged 
to be with me. In our third carriage were M. Boudart, the 



MARSHAL OUDINOT 129 

General's secretary, and our women. I saw nothing with 
my eyes ; I only felt that each stride of the horses carried 
us further away from those we loved, and my grief was 
such as almost to amount to despair. How I suffered that 
day ! We arrived, shattered body and soul, at our first 
halting-place, Truinbrisen, a horrid little town between 
Berlin and Wittemberg. 

It was, I believe, at our third stop that an extraordinary 
incident occurred. Mme. Pajol, who had already been over 
the road, traced our itinerary with great intelligence, and 
tried always to keep in front of us, so as to prepare what 
was necessary. But this time our three carriages arrived 
almost simultaneously at the appointed place. It was a 
lonely post-house, standing at the foot of a mountain. It 
was still broad daylight, and we perceived a number of 
carriages with armorial bearings, and a great movement of 
horses and livery servants in the courtyard. We made for 
our rooms across this hubbub ; but soon we were at our 
windows to witness the departure of Prince Eugene de 
Beauharnais, for it was he, on his road to rejoin the Grande 
Armee. He caught sight of us, enquired who we were, and 
came up the staircase straightway. No sooner did we see 
him take this unexpected direction than a panic seized all 
three of us. Without knowing what she was doing, Mme. 
Pajol snatched her sister's cashmere shawl ; the latter 
struggled to retain it ; and I vainly sought an outlet for 
escape. All this was the business of two seconds, and the 
Prince entered before we had resumed our countenances. 
However, Mme. Pajol managed to reply suitably to Jose- 



130 MEMOIRS OF 

phine's amiable son, who had all the charm and grace of 
his mother. He came, he said, " to take our messages for 
our husbands." But I was and remained stupid. Later I 
wept for shame and regret. I wrote my confession to the 
]\Iarshal that very night before going to bed, and fell asleep 
in all humility. I learned afterwards that Prince Eugene, 
when he met the Marshal, showed extreme consideration 
in the manner in which he related this anecdote. 

As we approached Mayence, we heard that the Emperor 
was on the road to join the army, and that we ran a chance 
of being short of horses. By travelling night and day, we 
succeeded in reaching Metz before him, and shortly after- 
wards we reached the end of our journey, Bar-le-Duc. 

I visited every corner of my house in tears, and the 
Marshal's room in particular. There everything seemed to 
speak of him. I even seemed to recognize the smell of his 
pipe, and hugged the illusion. There are moments in life 
when one loves to accentuate one's sorrow! 

At last the Marshal's first letter arrived. The sight 
alone of his handwriting on the address caused me so great 
an emotion that it was long before I could grasp the mean- 
ing of his expressions of affection. There is something 
more sacred in the written than in the spoken word. It is 
as though nothing could destroy or alter what is thus 
sworn to us. Mmc. de Lorcncez also had a charming 
letter from her husband, who was not to leave mine. It 
was not the same in Mme. Pajol's case ; the ist Corps, to 
which the General belonged, seemed destined to strike the 
first blow, whereas the Marshal, who had arrived at Marien- 



MARSHAL OUDINOT 131 

werder, had not as yet received his marching orders, and 
for the moment I breathed again. 

Soon M. Gouy arrived. He came to instal me in the 
position which he wished to see me take up at the head of 
that household in which, so far as authority was concerned, 
I had till then remained a mere nullity. And at last came 
my mother, accompanied by M. and Mme. de la Gueriviere; 
and in the happiness of this meeting and the busy life I 
led I found the only salutary remedy for my increasing 
distress. During the war, naturally all amusements were 
suspended. My uncle brought with him Enguerrand, that 
charming boy, who came enraptured with joy at the 
promise that on his leaving Saint-Cyr, where he was 
going, my husband would take him as his aide-de-camp. 
Alas ! 

The whole army had crossed the Vistula ; and as it 
advanced upon the Niemen, letters came with less fre- 
quency. 

It was about this time that I was told one morning that 
the mistress of the boarding-school at Nancy to which my 
husband had sent my little step-daughter Stephanie, had 
arrived at Bar with the child, whom I took to live with me 
at home. Her little heart opened out to me ; and from the 
very first day commenced that intimacy between us which 
nothing has ever broken. 

At last war was openly declared, and our army marched 
beyond the Niemen without as yet finding the opportunity 
for the great battle which every one was expecting. Slight 
and partial engagements alone fed the ardent interest with 



132 MEMOIRS OF 

which the letters and newspapers were received. In those 
days the post from abroad came only four times a week. 
Those were moments of fever when it arrived, and the 
intervals were days in which we painfully vegetated and 
counted the hours. 

I was expecting a bust of my husband, which an artist of 
some talent had executed in Berlin during our stay there. 
One day a large case arrived from Germany. I dragged my 
mother away to come and see it opened. Palpitating with 
eagerness I saw the lid removed, and then the first, second 
and third covers of paper in which it was wrapped. What 
was my horror at seeing one of the plaster shoulders 
smashed and ready to fall from the body. A fatal thought 
seized hold of my imagination ; and it was realized but too 
well, for a few days later the Marshal had his shoulder 
shattered by a ball of grape-shot ! 

After a halt at Marien\verder, on the Vistula, 
Oudinot crossed the Niemen, with the rest of the 
army, above Kowno (24 June). He was to form 
the left with the 2nd Corps, received orders to cross 
the Vilia, and directed himself towards the north 
upon Vilkomir. His first engagement at Dewel- 
towo, on the morning of the 28th, revealed to him 
from the commencement the nature of this deceptive 
war ; it was hardly possible to touch Wittgenstein's 
rear-guard, although this sustained a severe check ; 
,111' I the enemy dispersed, protecting himself against 



MARSHAL OUDINOT 



133 



us by means of his endless, desolate and forbidding 
plains. 

The Emperor with the Grande Armee followed the line 
of Moscow, endeavouring to provoke one of those battles of 
giants which he had always been able to turn to his advan- 
tage ; while on the left he had detached the corps of Oudi- 
not and Macdonald in the direction of St Petersburg. The 
army opposed to my husband was commanded by Wittgen- 
stein, the Russian General-in-Chief He had at last re- 
solved to deliver the battle which had hitherto been refused 
to the Grande Armee ; and several combats had taken 
place. After one of the first of these, the Marshal wrote to 
me, with no other details, " Be easy, my dear ; the bullets 
refused to touch me, because my bones are too hard." A 
joke which failed to enliven me, I assure you. But his 
letters came more and more irregularly. Sometimes, after 
long days of anguish, they would be delivered to me in 
a heap. Then I lost my head, broke all the seals at once, 
and gazed at the pages spread out before me with fright- 
ened eyes which distinguished nothing, 

I was in this mood when one day I received a letter 
written on sugar-loaf paper. It bore the stamp of Vitebsk, 
and the writing was unknown to me : 

" Vitebsk, 3 July. 

"You gave me leave, Madame la duchesse, to write you 
one note for each victory. I beg a thousand pardons for 
delaying so long ; but here is one, with every condition 



'34 



MEMOIRS OF 



fulfilled ; and as you may well believe, it was our Ba}-ard 
who won it. Alas, I was not there ; but I have at least 
the happiness to announce to you that, at the cost of a 
scratch on his hand, he has just taken twenty pieces of 
cannon and three thousand men, and the barbarian has 
killed four thousand. 

" With this, Madame la duchesse, accept the respectful 
homage of your old servant, 

{Signed) " L. NarboNNE." 

I was deeply touched with the fulfilment of this promise, 
which I had taken for one of those obliging speeches of the 
man of the world. The details were soon confirmed b}- the 
Marshal himself, who only suppressed the scratch, of which 
he never spoke to me. His letters were always full of 
affection for me ; but they were written at a gallop on 
every odd and end of paper he could find. They smelt of 
powder and the bivouac. Sometimes also I received news 
of the Grande Armee from Moscow through Victor, my 
step-son, an officer in the Chasseurs of the Imperial Guard 
and permanently attached to head-quarters. 

Oudinot was alone at the head of an important 
command, far removed froni head-cjiiarters, and, with 
the exception of instructions wliich became daily 
more rare, was left to his own initiative. This 
honour came to him in the most thankless, unknown 
and desolate country in the world, and at a time 
when there blew as it were a bitter blast of bad luck, 



MARSHAL OUDINOT 135 

the forerunner of vaguely foreseen disasters. Many 
another, senior to him and rocked till then by suc- 
cess, was suddenly to awaken in surprise and find 
himself an unlucky officer in these last great sorrow- 
ful years. 

He nevertheless bore a good countenance in 
spite of the overpowering fatigue. The heat was 
like lead on that unsheltered soil. He himself said 
that he had never suffered so terribly, even in Italy ; 
not suspecting that, through the bitter irony of that 
climate, we should be ravaged in three months' time 
by the two contrary excesses of temperature. His 
officers, who worshipped him, and who suffered at 
seeing him thus oppressed, went out at night into 
the neighbouring woods and gathered branches 
which they planted over his head, so that this im- 
provised arbour might bring him some relief at 
waking. 

Napoleon, after vainly endeavouring to hem in 
Prince Bagration in the south, returned north to 
attempt a similar manoeuvre against Barclay de 
Tolly, whom he wished to hold in check behind the 
Dwina. He himself established his head-quarters at 
Glouboukoe, between Drissa and Polotsk. Oudinot, 
who was already on the Dwina, marched up the 
river by its left bank and fiercely cannoned the 



136 MEMOIRS OF 

enemy at Dwinaburg. Only Barclay also had fallen 
back, according to the prudent tactics of the Russians; 
and Napoleon, deceived, but fascinated by the mirage 
of Moscow, plunged eastwards into the country of 
the devastating steppes. He ordered Oudinot to 
resume his movement upon St Petersburg and 
to continue to press against Wittgenstein. 

The Due de Reo'oio crossed the Dwina at Polotsk, 
and the Drissa at the ford of Sivotschina. On the 
29th of July, Legrand's division, which formed the 
advance-guard, was sharply attacked by the enemy. 
The Marshal flew to its assistance, maintained the 
combat at every point, drove back the Russians with 
the bayonet, and would certainly have crushed them, 
if they had not succeeded in taking refuge in a small 
wood, where they were able to mask themselves 
under cover of their artillery. Their advantageous 
position prevented us from continuing the fight to 
good purpose. Oudinot saw that it was no use 
insisting for the moment ; but he did not despair of 
enticing the enemy into making some dangerous 
mistake. Feigning a retrograde movement, he 
crossed back to the left bank of the Drissa, and there 
established himself in a strong position. The Rus- 
sians, growing bolder, committed the imprudence of 
crossing the river on the night of the 31st ol July. 



MARSHAL OUDINOT 137 

So soon as he perceived this, the Due de Reggio 
completed his measures : the artillery crowned the 
heights ; a regiment of infantry ensconced itself in a 
coppice on the left of the road ; the light horse occu- 
pied the right, and the Cuirassiers remained in 
reserve. He gave orders to let the enemy advance 
within reach of the cannon, and then, when the 
moment had come, to charge. 

The following is an extract from the report he 
addressed that night to Berthier : 

Besala, i August 181 2, 10 P.M. 
The Russians at first offered a sharp but useless resist- 
ance. They were overturned in a moment and thrown into 
the Drissa, leaving in our hands fourteen guns, thirteen 
wagons, and over two thousand prisoners. We drove 
them fighting before us for three-quarters of a league to the 
river ; the ground is covered with their dead. I have seen 
few battle-fields offer so great a displa}^ of carnage. 

Unfortunately Oudinot was not in a position to 
profit by his success. The 2nd Corps had suffered 
greatly since joining the campaign ; fatigue, priva- 
tions, combats, dysentery and desertions had in a 
very little time reduced it to half its strength, and it 
numbered little more than twenty thousand men. 
Even when reinforced on the 6th of August by the 



138 MEMOIRS OF 

thirteen thousand Bavarians, led by General Gouvion- 
Saint-Cyr, it was difficult for it to take the offensive 
as the Emperor wished. Nevertheless, a few days 
of repose enabled it to resume its movement north- 
M-ards. 

The Marshal crossed the Drissa once more and 
advanced upon the Swaina, which separated him 
from the Russians. He tried in vain to draw them 
into fighting. Then, not feeling very sure of his 
position, and fearing lest his right, which he was 
unable to oruard, should be turned, he resolved to 
retrograde and to place himself close to Polotsk, 
between the Dwina and its affluent the Polota. 
Wittgenstein, who was watching all our movenicnts, 
retiring when we advanced and advancing when we 
retired, thought the moment favourable to attack. 
On the 1 6th, he was kept at a respectful distance. 
The next day, the 17th, the combat was renewed at 
eight o'clock in the morning. Oudinot resisted 
energetically, while accentuating his retreating move- 
ment upon the left bank of the Dwina. Our troops 
were exhausted by their marches and counter- 
marches and scorched by the heat, and at two 
o'clock a battalion of Yoltigeurs gave way. The 
Marshal, rushing to make it return to its position, 
was struck seriously in the shoulder !))■ a ball of 



MARSHAL OUDINOT 139 

grape-shot and obliged to hand over the command 
to Gouvion-Salnt-Cyr. 

He was carried to a Jesuit convent, where the 
Fathers gave him the first necessary cares, and from 
there, as he was incapable for the time of returning 
to the head of his troops, he was moved to Wilna, 
where he arrived on the 20th of August. There he 
was soon joined by his young wife, who did not 
hesitate to face the journey. 

The Comtesse Pajol had left for Paris, accompanied by 
Mme. Poriquet, who, with a solicitude worthy of a mother, 
wished to be present at the moment of her confinement. 
In order to spare her as much fatigue as possible, I had 
lent her my firmly-built and easy-going travelling carriage, 
which my husband had given me and which I had used for 
my journey from Berlin. I had kept hers, which was less 
comfortable and half worn-out wnth long service. You 
shall see why I mention this trifling circumstance. 

It had long been agreed between my husband and myself 
that I should proceed before the end of the summer, with- 
out him, alas ! to pay my wedding visits to Lentilles and 
Hancourt, stopping for a few days at Vitry to renew 
acquaintance with my friends there ; and I relied upon this 
latter diversion to assist me in passing a few days of this 
terrible period. For my alarms seemed more and more 
well-founded, and there was general anxiety about 
the march of the Emperor, who was penetrating beyond 



HO MEMOIRS OF 

all expectation into those distant regions. People were 
beginning to ask how and when we should get out of it ; 
and this first doubt of the infallibility of our star astonished 
every one painfully. 

However, while awaiting the post, we were to make an 
excursion to all our favourite spots in the neighbourhood. 
I had been ready some time, and was waiting for the others 
in the drawing-room, when my mother entered. 

" How fine you are ! " I said, noticing the beautiful 
costume she had put on that morning. It was a cambric 
peignoir, lavishly garnished wath lace. 

" I may have looked fine this morning," she replied, 
"but . . ." 

It needed no more to apprise me of a misfortune ; and 
I at once believed the worst. And when, after striking 
the first blow, they endeavoured to add some details, I 
uttered such loud screams that it was some time before 
my family, grouped around me, could make themselves 
understood. At last my uncle shouted into my ear : 

" But he's only wounded ! " 

I heard him suddenly, and opened my eyes, which till 
then I had kept closed, as though to keep out the dreadful 
news. 

My uncle showed me the Monitciw, and through my sobs 
I read a paragraph which I have not before me, but of 
which the following was the purport: 

"On the i/th of August, at the moment when the Due 
do Reggio was ready to reap the fruits of victory, he was 



MARSHAL OUDINOT 141 

struck down by a ball of grape-shot in the shoulder. The 
wound, though serious, is not hopeless. The Marshal has 
been carried to the rear of the army, and he will be taken 
to Wilna." 

" I must go to Wilna at once," I cried. " Mother, uncle, 
you must let me go." 

" You shall go," they replied. 

" Yes," added my Aunt Clotilde, " and my husband shall 
accompany you . . ." 

Great grief is always selfish ; I at once accepted this 
great sacrifice without calculating its extent for my uncle 
and aunt. 

" Let us go, let us go ! " I cried, " My God, shall I find 
him alive r' 

During the crisis produced upon me by this terrible 
doubt, some of them waited on me, while others occu- 
pied themselves actively with the arrangements for my 
departure. An hour later, we were on the road to Vitry, 
and in spite of the darkness and the roads, which were 
soaked by a storm, in spite of the flood of the Marne, 
which we had to ford, we made good progress, and in the 
middle of the night we reached Vitry, where we were 
expected. 

" Did you meet the second post which we sent you 
yesterday evening ? " asked Rosalie, running up to the 
carriage. We then learnt to our despair that the trouble 
and eagerness we had displayed would turn against us. 

A fever of impatience overcame me when I learnt that 



1^2 MEMOIRS OF 

that messenjTer was the bearer of a letter from the army. 
It was sent to me from Bar by Mme. de Lorencez, who did 
not lose a moment, and sent her own coachman with it. 
We all counted the moments until he arrived. At last a 
paper was placed in my hands upon which I recognized, 
though I could not read them, a few lines in the Marshal's 
handwriting. " He is not dead, he has not lost his arms !" 
I cried. This was all I was able at first to grasp. 

The precious document was passed from hand to hand, 
and when I had recovered sufficient consciousness, I read 
as follows : 

" My Eugenie, if you learn of my wound through any 
other channel, do not be alarmed at it, for it will not, I 
hope, be dangerous. However, it will compel me to with- 
draw to the rear and to leave the army. I shall not be 
able to write to you, because of the lack of communications 
(20 August)." 

Although weak, the writing had not lost all its character, 
and I breathed again. 

To this letter General de Lorencez had added a very 
precious note, containing these words : 

" M. le marechal has charged me to recommend you not 
to undertake so long a journey to join him ; but believe 
me, follow the impulse of your heart." 

If I had not already made up my mind, the General's 
letter would have settled the matter. I now thought onlv 



MARSHAL OUDINOT 143 

of reaching Bar. I arrived there in the morning accom- 
panied by my mother and my uncle ; but a cruel hinder- 
ance awaited me there. My travelling-carriage was in 
Paris, and I v/as assured that the one which Mme. Pajol 
had left me in temporary exchange could never resist a 
hurried journey of six or seven hundred leagues. We 
should have run the risk of breaking down a score of times. 
I had no chance but hastily to despatch an intelligent 
servant with injunctions to bring me back my berlin, of 
which I foresaw the usefulness to my dear wounded. 

The posting arrangements were at that time perfectly 
organized, especially if one paid the postillions well. And 
yet three days passed between his setting out and his 
return. Three leaden days, which were spent by all around 
me in making preparations for the journey in which I was 
utterly incapable of assisting. I only remember having 
twenty bottles of claret put into the boot of the carriage, 
before which I would readily have prostrated myself when 
I saw it arriving on the morning of the 12th of September. 

The day was spent in loading it, and our departure was 
fixed for six o'clock in the evening. At last the postillions' 
whips gave the signal. Every one rose in tumult and 
followed me. The horses galloped off so fast that it was 
not until we reached the village of Naives that I recovered 
my spirits. There, at his old mother's door, Jacqueminot 
the senator stood waiting for me, and handed me — he 
crying too — his messages for his son. In those days no 
one was certain that a message addressed to a combatant 
would reach its destination. 



144 MEMOIRS OF 

The weather was magnificent ; we travelled at high 
speed, and I felt the better for it ; for a forced movement 
is perhaps the most powerful alleviation of the great 
sorrows of the soul. Besides, did not each turn of the 
wheels bring me nearer the one spot in the universe to- 
wards which all my thoughts were directed ? 

At five o'clock in the morning we reached ]\Ietz, and 
knocked at M. Gouy's door. His wife and he were soon 
up; and our faithful friend said to me, " I felt certain, even 
if you had not let me know, that you would start for Wilna. 
I have got ready for you, in case you need them, six 
thousand francs in gold. Will you have them ? Here 
they are." 

I had the necessary funds, however, and could only thank 
the dear good man. 

On the morning of the 14th we arrived at INIayence, rest- 
ing for a moment only at the Hotel des Trois Couronnes, 
so well known to all the army. But our fatigue was so 
great by the evening that we took a few hours sleep at 
Hanau. This was our only repose between Bar and 
Berlin. 

So soon as we arrived at the capital, I sent in all direc- 
tions for news. What was my surprise to see the Comtc 
de Saint-Marsan, our Ambassador, come hurrying up to me 
with a letter for me from my husband in his hand. Before 
asking how he had come by it, I loaded the excellent man 
with blessings I My husband told me in a few lines, and 
in a firmer handwriting, that he was bearing his journey 
well and travelling slowly to Wilna. 



MARSHAL OUDINOT 145 

To explain the delivery of this letter I must tell you that 
I had written from Bar to the Due de Feltre, the Minister 
of War, telling him of my departure, and asking him for 
some kind of chart of the road which might facilitate my 
journey in case of difficulties. The Minister of War had 
made known my departure along the road that I was to 
travel, through the auditor to the Council of State who 
regularly carried the official news from Paris to the 
Emperor. I believe one of these gentlemen used gener- 
ally to leave every week. They often crossed on the 
road, and invariably stopped at the French Embassy in 
Berlin. M. de Saint-Marsan, when going through the 
bag of the returning auditor, took out to give to me the 
letter of which I have spoken. " I have made known 
your departure," said the count, " and as, in spite of your 
diligence, my young men travel still faster than you do, 
your arrival will be announced beforehand to the Due de 
Bassano, and consequently also to your husband." 

This news was so good that I decided to yield to my 
uncle's persuasion and to stay one day in Berlin. The 
opportunity was taken to mend my carriage, which had 
been greatly tried by the three hundred leagues we had 
travelled, and also to fill it with provisions, which I grate- 
fully accepted at the hands of the kind friends I had found 
there, although I was then far from suspecting the penury 
that was soon to threaten us. 

The second notable person who came to see me at my 
hotel was Marshal Augereau. It was the first time I saw 
the husband of my fair compatriot. He was tall and broad, 



146 MEMOIRS OF 

spoke loudly, and reminded me a little of the drum-major 
whom I had always regarded in my childhood as the chief 
of a regiment. I spoke to him o( his delicious wife, of 
whom he showed me a charming miniature. He was 
thinking of sending for her to come to him, and in rather 
strange terms, which, however, were quite natural with him, 
he said, " I have told her to get her doeskin breeches ready 
for the journey." But altogether the Due de Castiglione 
was not only very obliging but full of solicitude for my 
welfare ; and taking my uncle aside, he urged him most 
expressly not to allow me to travel at night beyond Custrin, 
the first place at which I was to sleep. "Yield to no en- 
treaties, for the road that follows is the most difficult part 
of the Marechale's long and painful journey. Once beyond 
the Oder, you may find it covered with the highwaymen, 
deserters and robbers who usually follow in the wake of 
an army." My uncle took his advice and followed it. 

On the third day, I took leave not only of our Ambas- 
sador and of the marshal, but of a number of other 
superior officers, who had all, from devotion for m}- hus- 
band, shown me every kindness. 

Berlin passed, one finds the deep sand which makes 
travelling so difficult. Nothing seems to me more melan- 
choly than the country between the Prussian capital and 
the city of Custrin, a fortified town on the Oder. General 
Fournier d'Albe was in command of our garrison, and warned 
by my courier of our arrival, he sent a messenger to beg 
me to come to his house, where the most amiable reception 
awaited me. " In this sad exile," he said, when he had 



MARSHAL OUDINOT 147 

installed me in his best rooms, " my only consolation is at 
least to be of some use to those joining the army." 

From Custrin we travelled to Marienwerder. The sand 
grew deeper. The relays were irregular, and at long 
distances ; at each we increased the number of horses, 
but the poor worn-out teams went no faster, and night 
fell as we descended through a gloomy forest towards the 
bank of the Vistula. As the slope was a steep one, we 
alighted from the carriage, and it was not till that night, 
when we had reached our lodging, that my uncle told me 
he had distinctly seen a large wolf a few paces from us, in 
that forest which seemed so wild that it might have been 
the undisputed domain of those redoubtable inhabitants. 

We crossed the river on a bridge of boats. Had I then 
been travelling for my pleasure, I should have keenly re- 
gretted seeing nothing of that country, which had already 
been covered by our armies in a former war. But, as you 
know, I was absorbed in the present. I observed, on 
reaching the inn, where my courier had preceded me, that 
everything was brightly lit up, and that there was a 
general air of movement ; and I soon learnt that this was 
in our honour, or rather in memory of the Marshal, who 
had recently, at the head of his army, left so good a re- 
putation for equity in strength that they did not think 
they could ever do enough for one bearing his name. 
However, they charged us pretty dear for the splendid 
repast and the room of fifty covers in which my uncle and 
I supped tete-a-tete amid a multitude of candles. This was 
our last acquaintance with luxury and civilization. 



148 MEMOIRS OF 

I will cut short the details of our painful journey across 
that endless sand, interspersed with a few pine-forests and 
a number of ponds, and bring you within sight of the 
Baltic. For six leagues we followed one of its arms called 
the FreschafF. Wretched fisher-huts form the only dwell- 
ings of these melancholy shores, giving all the greater 
brilliancy to the town of Konigsberg when it comes into 
view with its port and its many steeples. 

At any other time, the sea, w'hich I now saw for the 
first time, would have aroused my keenest interest. But 
I saw everything through the medium of a single idea, 
and my first thought was to ask the French general com- 
manding the district for news that might interest me. 

General Loison commanded at Konigsberg, and he was 
at my hotel within half-an-hour after receiving my message. 
He began by reassuring me as to the Marshal's health, 
without, however, giving me the details I wanted. 

" But where do you expect to find the Marshal ? " he 
asked. 

"Why, at Wilna," I replied, in alarm . . . 

" He is no longer there, madame." 

A thousand confused and terrible ideas traversed my 
mind before I had found time to question him afresh. I 
felt as though I were going mad, but my uncle, more calm, 
elicited the facts. It was a vague rumour which had reached 
General Loison, who was not even able to say in what 
direction the Marshal was travelling. 

"Perhaps he is returning," I cried; "and how do you 
know I shall not meet him on the road ? " 



MARSHAL OUniNOT 14Q 

*No, madame," replied the General; "if your husband 
has moved, it would not be in this direction." 

" Well, I shall follow him, wherever he is ! " I cried, in my 
despair. " No, I have not travelled five or six hundred 
leagues, and undergone all these days of torture and 
uncertainty, only to retrace my steps ; and if it is only for 
an hour, I mean to see the Marshal." 

I had had courage so long as I was travelling towards 
a fixed point, to which each step brought me nearer. But 
now ! And moreover I also heard that the Emperor had for- 
bidden all wives of officers, of whatever rank, to go beyond 
the Vistula ; whereas I was approaching the Niemen. In 
proof of his statement, the General told me he had been 
requested by the Governor of Wilna to find a lodging at 
Konigsberg for his wife, whom he had been obliged to 
send back from Wilna, where she had followed him in 
all confidence. 

" We must put our trust in God," I said to my uncle, as 
we climbed into our carriage at daybreak, in pouring rain. 
This downpour, which made our moods still gloomier, con- 
tinued for three consecutive days, and greatly increased 
the difficulties of the journey. We no longer drove through 
the thick sand which we had found from Berlin to Konigs- 
berg, but over thick mud, in which we sank up to the hams 
of the wretched little horses of the country. This part 
of Prussia is said to be fertile and prosperous, but I was 
not there to study the country. The execrable roads, 
the delays necessitated by our having to find horses 
where there were so few, had upset all the arrangements 



1 50 MEMOIRS OF 

for our stoppages ; and I do not know exactly how much 
time was spent over this second part of our journey, which 
was drenched in the most abundant rain I had ever seen 
in my life. It redoubled in force when, long after night- 
fall, we arrived at Insterburg. 

The first lodging at which the carriage pulled up was 
occupied entirely, we were told, by a detachment rejoining 
the army. It was the same thing at the second, and soon ; 
and I since learnt that no less than ten thousand men were 
stationed that night in the little town. 

My poor servants, who had received the torrents falling 
from the skies throughout the day, excited my warmest 
pity ; and I must confess that we were all worn out, body 
and soul. It would have been very cruel to spend that 
night without shelter. At last we took a great resolve, 
and Carl, a young Prussian footman, was sent to knock at 
the door of the Commandant of the town. 

]\Iy uncle slept outside my door, for want of a bed ; but at 
least he was sheltered from the deluge, which descended 
more fiercely than ever. We set out before daybreak. 
It was pitiful to behold the difficulties of our progress 
through roads soaked through with the rain. However, 
we arrived without any accident at Gumbinnen, where 
we found a lodging. The next day we noticed that the 
route we were following bore more and more traces of 
the disasters which war brings with it. Not only did the 
horses become more scarce, but their owners waxed very 
distrustful (we had long passed the limit of the postal 
administration, which had become wholly di.sorganized). 



MARSHAL OUDINOT 



'51 



Every villager wanted to follow his animal, to be quite 
sure that he should get it back ; and one day I had four 
postillions to eight horses. And such horses ! And such 
postillions ! The first were harnessed with odds and ends 
of ropes and cords ; the second, dressed in sheepskins, 
resembled savages. 

Food became scarcer as we advanced, and one morning 
we were very happy to find at the bottom of a locker a 
remnant of sausage which had formed part of the presents 
of our friends at Berlin. We were really famished when 
we arrived at Marienpol. The distressful air of the 
country boded no good. We were therefore agreeably 
surprised when we saw appear at the door of a tumbledown 
inn a prepossessing Frenchwoman, who offered us two 
chickens, which we seized upon without waiting to have 
them cooked, reserving them for our supper at Kowno, 
where we hoped to arrive that evening. 

Kowno, on the banks of the Niemen, the last river I 
should have to cross, seemed to me the outpost of my 
destination. 

We pursued our slow and unequal progress along 
roads that were no longer traced. Night surprised us at 
the most wretched lodging we had yet met with ; we were 
compelled to stop. 

As I contemplated the repulsive bed they offered me, 
I asked if it was the best they had. 

" Yes," they replied, " because the best room is occupied 
by the Princess." 

" Who is that Princess they speak of ? " I asked my uncle, 



152 MEMOIRS OF 

who enquired and found it was the Princess of Hohenlohe, 
wife of the Dutch General van Hogendorp, then Governor 
of Wilna. Yes, it was the poor woman who had been sent 
away from that town by order of the Emperor ! I so 
greatly pitied her fate that I did not even secretly think of 
envying her better accommodation ; but I was resolved 
not to leave without seeing her. I made them bring one of 
the two little mattresses which my carriage contained, and 
spread it on a sort of bench in a room on the ground- 
floor which opened upon the street. My uncle slept in the 
carriage, after having it brought up against the window, 
and overcome with fatigue, I soon fell asleep. But I 
awoke with a start at the sudden entrance of a man into 
my room, smacking his whip and swearing. At my first 
scream, Mme. Morel, who was sleeping on a pallet near 
mine, fell upon him like an hyena. He was so taken aback 
that he fled for his life. That was all; but I was unable to 
get asleep again. We learnt the next day that it was only 
an army courier demanding horses. 

This alarm, combined with my desire to see Mrs. van 
Hogendorp, kept me awake till daybreak ; and as soon as 
my ear caught the first movements announcing her de- 
parture, I went upstairs to the " best room " which she 
occupied. What a hole ! . . . I there found a delicate and 
distinguished woman dressing a poor little girl of six, who 
seemed to have nothing left in her but h.er breath. A 
number of lady's maids were making up parcels, and no 
one seemed astonished at the eagerness with which they 
were preparing to leave that hovel. On hearing my name, 



MARSHAL OUDINOT 153 

Mrs. van Hogendorp, when she had recovered from her 
astonishment, hastened to give me news of my husband in 
these words : 

" I left him about six days ago. His wound is doing 
well ; but he has not yet thought of leaving Wilna to 
return to the army, for in spite of the improvement of 
which I speak, he would not for the present be able 
to ride his horse." 

I left Mrs. van Hogendorp, after wishing her, from the 
bottom of my heart, health, happiness and a speedy 
meeting with her husband. Alas ! none of my wishes 
were fulfilled, for the child died six months later, and the 
mother followed her after a short interval. 

At Kowno, I found an aide-de-camp of my husband's, 
who, by the latter's orders, had been awaiting me for the 
last twenty-four hours. It was M. Jacqueminot. With his 
usual activity, he had got together an excellent team of 
horses from the artillery stationed in reserve at Kowno. 
This would enable us, without having recourse to other 
means, to cover the twenty-five leagues which still sepa- 
rated us from Wilna, thanks to the relays prepared before- 
hand. 

M. Jacqueminot joined us in our carriage, and at last I 
was able to hear the details I had so longed for. He con- 
firmed those which I had already received at Berlin through 
M. de Saint-Marsan. It was the latter who had announced 
my arrival, and " for the last five days," said the young 
man, "the Marshal is exciting himself while waiting for 
you ; let us hurry." 



15+ MEMOIRS OF 

"But," said I, in great distress, "will he send me away?"' 

" He has not the slightest wish to do so," he replied, 
laughing; " but the Emperor . . ." 

" Oh, I know," I said ; " but let us get on . . . the first 
thing is to arrive." 

At that moment it became necessary to alight in order 
to push back the carriage, which had left the road. It was 
so dark, one could distinguish nothing. M. Jacqueminot 
took one of the lanterns, went ahead of the horses, and 
succeeded in bringing us back, not to the road, for there 
was none, but to the line of disasters which served to guide 
us. We followed him on foot, with sand up to our ankles, 
when M. Jacqueminot returned to tell us the result of his 
investigations, and urged us to hurry back and resume our 
seats in the carriage. But when, by the light of his lantern, 
he saw me painfully drawing my feet from the sand, he 
burst into one of those fits of laughter which he often in- 
dulged in, and which contained more sarcasm than gaiety. 

*' What a strange circumstance," he said, " is your pre- 
sence in the midst of this desert, madame la duchesse ! 
Oh, that all-devouring ambition which leads us to the end 
of the world, which disorganizes every existence and 
paralyzes every industry! And to what will it bring us? 
We are all done for." 

This diatribe, the first I had heard uttered against the 
Emperor since my marriage, this violent discontent on the 
part of a man who was as brave as he was enthusiastic, 
petrified me with surprise. I listened in silence. 

"Yes," he continued, "misfortunes without end have 



MARSHAL OUDINOT 155 

already reached and are increasingly threatening our 
army [the Emperor was then marching upon Moscow], and 
I do not know which of us will ever see France again." 

At last we perceived the lights of a house, before which 
the horses pulled up. I was taken through several rooms 
which seemed to have been devastated before being 
finished. It was a real shed, with neither floor nor ceiling ; 
but the most pleasing reception awaited me there. Mme. 
Oguinska, a charming woman of about thirty, met me with 
amiable alacrity. She spoke French, like all her com- 
patriots, with remarkable ease. She made her excuses for 
ali that I might find wanting in her house, owing to its 
position. It had served as the head-quarters of the vari- 
ous armies which had followed one another along this 
route, and I understood that this was not calculated to 
revictual the place. But this sad incident of the war was 
not, on the princess's part, the object of any direct or 
covert complaint. 

At that time, the Lithuanians, including the women, 
were all under the charm of the keenest hopes. At the 
commencement of the campaign, they had rushed in 
rapture towards the Emperor, seeing in him, as they 
thought, the restorer of their liberty. Poland had offered 
him on every side men, arms and homage. And as yet 
nothing had formally belied the hope which they had 
conceived. 

I slept little, and as I had taken my leave of the mistress 
of the house the evening before, I set out without delay at 
daybreak. But the roads, ploughed by the artillery, were 



156 MEMOIRS OF 

worse than those we had followed so far. We made hardly 
any progress. I should have liked to help the horses to 
drag the carriage. I tried to restrain my impatience, but 
it stifled me. 

Towards mid-day, M. Jacqueminot found a country cart 
in a sort of farm which had been left standing, and decided 
to go on in front. " You have no longer anything to fear," 
he said. " I will try and quiet the Marshal's impatience 
by announcing your arrival. I only recommend you," he 
added, addressing my uncle, " to take precautions against 
the rapid descent which you will meet with two or three 
leagues from here." 

After his departure, we preserved a profound silence. A 
keen joy sometimes closely resembles pain, and nothing 
can issue from a heart when its impressions are too 
vivid. As it reached its summit, our emotion was not 
of a nature to find expression ; but we were suddenly 
relieved from the indefinable position by the sight of a 
long and rapid slope, at the top of which the carriage 
had stopped, and throwing my eyes over the plain which 
it commanded, I uttered a piercing cry. Wilna lay before 
me. 

Leaping with joy, I descended this mountain on foot, 
this white and icy mountain, which, two months later, was 
to come, like a great ghost, between France and our army, 
of which almost all that remained lay down in death at 
its foot. But now nothing could diminish my transports. 
And yet, during the two leagues that remained for us to 
travel, we found many a portent of the hideous disaster 



MARSHAL OUDINOT ,57 

which was drawing nigh. Among the wreck of artillery- 
trains bordering the roadway were a number of dead 
horses, some already reduced to skeletons, others to a state 
of corruption which sent a fetid odour through the air. 
But I had arrived ! and for the moment I was proof 
against any other sensation. 

Suddenly I heard a horse's hoofs. 

" Ah ! M. de Thermes ! " I exclaimed. 

He had been despatched by my husband to make me 
come faster. 

" Hasten, madame la duchesse, hasten," he said, at the 
carriage-door. " Since Jacqueminot's return, the Marshal 
is counting the minutes. And then, you should hurry to 
get out of this atmosphere ; " and the young man galloped 
off gaily, adding, " I am going to announce your arrival." 

He disappeared from sight as the carriage rolled on to 
the paving-stones of Wilna. 

I recognized servants in the Marshal's livery. The 
carriage rolled into the court-yard, and I saw him . . . him, 
with his most gracious expression. He stretched out his 
only free arm to embrace me ; the other was in a sling. 
His face was pale, but what matter? He was there. I 
kissed him ; he spoke to me with infinite tenderness. 
What a moment of happiness ! 

He next turned promptly towards my uncle and 
thanked him, with his captivating courtesy, in words which 
will never leave my memory. All the staff and a crowd 
of people whom I did not even see were witnesses of 
this meeting, which sounds so cold when told with the 



158 MEMOIRS OF 

pen, though its memory was burnt into my heart. We 
all climbed the staircase, and leaving behind us the multi- 
tude who followed us, we three entered his room, and 
there followed the reciprocal questionings, the cross-fire of 
enquiries and replies which are the delights of reunion. A 
few favoured friends were then gradually admitted, but I 
did not complain. When one is happy, one loves and re- 
ceives everybody. Besides, all those who accompanied the 
Marshal excited my interest, down to his servants, headed 
by the brave and worthy Pils. 

We dined in private, but the conversation of us three 
was sometimes interrupted by the bursts of noisy festivity 
of the staff, who were dining in full mess in the next room. 
The Marshal evidently enjoyed this gaiety, while paying 
my uncle the most delicate attention. My heart swam in 
happiness ; everything smiled to me. The Marshal's voice 
alone did me so much good that I tried to make him talk 
without stopping. The sight of his two arms fixed safely 
to his shoulders after that wound was a special delight. 

Quite unable to eat, I asked for something to drink. 
They gave me some red wine and water, which made me 
pull a horrid grimace. 

" Ah, ah ! " said the Marshal, " you don't like wine made 
without grapes." 

This reminded me of my twenty bottles of Bordeaux. 
They were unpacked and brought up, and I presented them 
in triumph to my cripple. He had one placed on our table, 
but sent the nineteen others to his staff, whose joy and 
animation were redoubled. I was certainly charmed to be 



MARSHAL OUDINOT 159 

of use to them ; but I must nevertheless confess that I re- 
gretted the rapid disappearance of this Httle comfort, which 
I had brought for the Marshal, and I did not quite know 
what to reply to the thanks the gentlemen came and 
offered me. 

We were still at dinner when a dazzling elegant entered 
the room. It was the Comte Adolphe de Maussion. As 
an auditor to the Council of State, he was attached to the 
office of the Due de Bassano, and in the Minister's name, 
came to ask for news of my arrival. 

" You see her before you," said my husband gaily. 
The young man bowed low, saying he would go and carry 
the news to his chief who was just sending a courier to the 
Emperor. I feared that these words meant that I should 
be sent away. All my fears returned for the moment ; 
but I was in too great need of happiness to permit the 
thought, and I drove it away, saying to myself that the 
distances were enormous, and that many bright days would 
pass before the dread command could reach us. 

I was agreeably surprised to find nothing in the Mar- 
shal's mood or conversation to confirm the sad account 
and melancholy prognostications of M. Jacqueminot. My 
husband, who had assisted at nothing but triumphs since 
his entrance into a soldier's career, was the last to certify 
our disasters ; and even when he touched upon them 
slightly, he yet sought to conceal them. When at last he 
was compelled to believe them, he continued to do so from 
rage and distress. 

Moreover, he allowed no one to repeat anything to him 



i6o MEMOIRS OF 

on hearsay, when it was unfavourable to our arms. He 
received no news except that given by the Due de Bassano 
or furnished by his chief of staff {General de Lorencez) on 
the movements of the 2nd Army Corps. On this side 
nothing alarming had happened during the first half of 
October. After Marshal Oudinot had been wounded, his 
corps had been placed under the command of Marshal 
Gouvion-Saint-Cyr, who had remained on the Dwina, 
where he maintained himself advantageously against 
Wittgenstein's army. Consequently everything was satis- 
factory there. 

The day after my arrival, I received many visits : first 
that of the Due de Bassano ; then came M. Bignon, a very 
clever man, who was also fulfilling a diplomatic mission, 
with the title of Imperial Commissary. Next, all the 
wounded who had left the army temporarily in order to 
be cured at Wilna. 

I also made the acquaintance of some charming women 
of the country, not only Lithuanians proper, but coming 
from every part of Poland to be at the centre of politics 
and of the news of the moment. They first called upon 
me, and I gladly returned their visits. 

We also accepted, my husband, my uncle and m}'self, 
the invitations of our two diplomatists. They alone kept 
house ; the natives had enough to do in keeping up their 
cause, to which they eagerly sacrificed more than their 
incomes. For instance, all these charming ladies gathered 
at Wilna lived in privation in order to assist their 
husbands to keep up the regiments raised at their cost 



MARSHAL OUDINOT i6i 

and commanded by them, their sons or their brothers. 
Yes, cashmere shawls, plate, pearls, diamonds, all went 
successively to be swallowed up in the vortex of a war 
from which those noble hearts and vivid imaginations 
refused to draw anything but hope. 

The first function at which I assisted was a great dinner, 
followed by a crowded reception, at the Due de Bassano's. 
The Minister enjoyed all the Emperor's confidence. He 
held and pulled, by his master's direction, all the wires of 
European diplomacy. Like the Comte Louis de Nar- 
bonne, he had preserved the old-fashioned way of doing 
the hair. He carried his powdered head well and loftily. 
He was tall in stature ; his demeanour was grave ; his 
movements slow; his words rare and measured. Alto- 
gether he was an imposing figure. 

The month of October had been magnificent, but it was 
drawing to an end, and not everyone was illusioned by 
its deceptive mildness. The interviews between the Due 
de Bassano and my husband were redoubled. 

Often, during these fine October mornings, my husband 
and I would set out alone to explore the neighbourhood. 
Certainly the charm of these drives did not lie in the 
localities themselves. Wilna is situated in a dry, sandy 
country, and surrounded by hills deprived of all vegetation. 
The Wilia winds through the country in vain ; it does not 
seem to fertilize it. A few brick towers were to be seen 
upon the heights. They were half demolished : destroyed, 
not ruined. 

The streets of Wilna were dark and dirty, and the 



1 62 MEMOIRS OF 

Jewish population, which was in the majority, did not 
brighten the picture. There are, however, a number of 
domes and steeples, which rise up brilliantly from the 
thirty-six convents that the city contains. 

To this repulsive Jewish population were added our 
sick and convalescent soldiers. These dragged themselves 
through the streets or lay stretched in the sun. Nothing 
is sadder to my mind than a sick soldier, because, to the 
physical suffering expressed on his face, must be added the 
home-sickness which is so cruel for the rich and so intoler- 
able to the poor. 

One morning, my husband and I had reached on foot a 
clump of fir-trees which had attracted us, because any 
vegetation was so rare. We Avere chatting merrily \\hcn 
we suddenly stumbled against a heap of earth. It was a 
tomb ! Then another, a hundred others. . . . We had lit 
upon the graveyard of a military hospital. We turned 
short, and not far away we found a canteen, in front of 
which our soldiers, ready to rejoin the army, were dancing 
with the canteen-women. 

Meanwhile, as the days passed by, a vague anxiety 
began to manifest itself. The entertainments continued. 
The diplomatic faces remained impassive; but I perceived 
that the private conferences between the Minister and my 
husband became much more frequent. Treated almost as 
a child, I was told of nothing ; but one morning, I bclic\-e it 
was on the 29th or 30th of October, I noticed such a going 
to and fro ; the Marshal, in a low voice, gave so many 
different orders to his officers ; his people, too, moved 



MARSHAL OUDINOT 163 

about to such an extent that I had a presentiment of 
departure, and all my doubts were dissipated when I saw 
him arranging his war-charts and telling Pils to put them 
in his boxes. 

The departure was irrevocably fixed for the morrow, and 
the hateful preparations for a long journey upset the house 
from top to bottom. I felt inclined to scold all the people 
who were busying themselves in these preparations ; I was 
shocked at the careless air of some and the contented air 
of others. The aides-de-camp in particular rejoiced at 
resuming the campaign, and I detested them for it. 

What a dinner ! what an evening ! what a night ! At 
daybreak the carriage rolled heavily beneath the archway. 
The Marshal embraced me silently, sadly, and after re- 
commending me afresh to the care of my uncle, drove off, 
leaving me a victim to genuine despair. I was ill for 
several days. 

It was the news of a wound received by Marshal 
Gouvion-Saint-Cyr that induced the Due de Reggio to 
resume his command of the 2nd Corps without waiting 
for orders or instructions from the Emperor, whose move- 
ments and plans were at the time unknown. The 2nd 
Corps had evacuated Polotsk, and your father was to 
rejoin his troops during their retrograde march upon the 
Beresina. 

The fine weather was past, and November opened in mist. 
My uncle tried to distract my thoughts by every possible 
means. He read to me. He made me take a piano- 
mistress. I agreed to everything, but without zeal or 



1 64 MEMOIRS OF 

attention. Then my uncle suggested that I should take 
drives. The Marshal had left me eight of his. horseSj 
which, well fed and cared for, were later to render us 
immense service. But for the time they were a luxury. 

Already the first snow lay on the ground, when one 
morning, huddled in our calash, and going at a great rate, 
we were shaken from our lethargy by a sudden swerving 
on the part of our horses, who had seen a corpse, which 
they refused to pass. This was the beginning. 

The incident did not increase my taste for driving ; 
however, I could not refuse when the Due de Bassano 
invited me to the review of the Neapolitan Guards, who 
were passing through Wilna to join Murat. These light 
and brilliant troops manoeuvred before us for an hour or 
two. It was their farewell to the world ; for, a few days 
later, the cold having increased, men and horses gradually 
melted away like snow beneath the sun. Not one reached 
his destination. Troops were constantly being sent to 
the army, but none ever returned. A silence as of death 
reigned at the Due de Bassano's and at my own house. 
He often came and communicated his forebodings to me. 
Each succeeding day, each added degree of frost increased 
the melancholy of the position. In the third week of 
November, the thermometer was at 12 degrees, and it 
could not but go lower still. 

Our letters from France had brought us nothing but 
news of peace and health ; but one morning I was seized 
with horror on reading in a letter from my sister of the 
inroads of a mad wolf who had bitten nineteen people in 



MARSHAL OUDINOT 165 

the town of Bar, of whom seventeen had succumbed to 
hydrophobia, 

I was interrupted by a visit from the Minister. " There 
are also," he said, "wolves in Paris." He had just heard 
of Mallet's conspiracy. " Look at my position," he said. 
" Paris is in uproar, and what news can I send to calm 
it ? Instead of the victories to which they are accustomed, 
the reports of which would make an instant diversion, 
am I to tell them that at this moment we are ignorant of 
the fate of the Emperor and the Grande Armee ? Will it 
be sufficient to repeat the last reports which I have read 
from Moscow, and which I have already sent home } And 
yet I must write to Paris, which is so exacting and so im- 
pressionable ; and, on the other hand, I must keep a good 
countenance here before this diplomatic body, whose eyes 
are always open, watching my movements. I must con- 
tinue to keep the Polish ladies dancing : they persevere 
in their hopes and will perhaps be undeceived all too 
soon. That is my position, which becomes more difficult 
day by day." 

Very gloomy days succeeded to this revelation of the 
Due de Bassano's. Nothing was able to draw me from my 
sombre meditations. I had been warned by the Minister 
that all the ladies who had taken refuge at Wilna would 
attentively follow my impressions and my movements, and 
I must therefore force myself to make no change in my 
mode of life. Since the Marshal's departure I had ceased 
to appear in public, but I paid and received morning visits, ' 
and in addition to the Lithuanian nobles, I saw much of 



1 66 MEMOIRS OF 

the superior officers on duty in the town, and also of the 
convalescents who were completing their cure. 

Count and Countess Abramowietz were among our most 
frequent visitors. There was a curious detail, rare every- 
where except in Poland, connected with the countess : this 
was her fourth husband. All four were living. I will not 
undertake to excuse the religious position, so revolting 
in itself and so strange in a Catholic ; but the Due de 
Bassano explained the civil position to me by the elasticity 
of the law, which in every Polish marriage-contract leaves 
an opportunity for a declaration of nullity or a separation. 
Among these four husbands was, I heard, one Frenchman, 
the Comte de Montholon ; and I believe, although I am not 
sure, that it was he who followed the Emperor to St 
Helena. 

Mme. Abramowietz, apart from the oddness of her posi- 
tion, was a most kind and charitable woman, and the charm 
of her mind and manners would infallibly have attracted 
me, if those three first husbands had not so often sprung 
up between us. But he who at that time reigned over 
her actions and her heart certainly deserved all the 
affection she bore him, as you can judge by the following 
anecdote. 

As you know, communications were interrupted with the 
army generally, and particularly along the line to Moscow. 
The Due de Bassano, anxious to inform the Emperor of 
the Mallet affair, and fearing to deliver the details to the 
chance of seizure which all his despatches ran, was eagerly 
seeking a means for the safe conveyance of his important 



MARSHAL OUDINOT 167 

news. Count Abramovvietz delivered him from his per- 
plexity by offering to undertake the risk and perils of 
the journey in question. 

" But how will you set about it," asked the duke, " so 
as to avoid the risk of capture ? " 

" That concerns myself," he replied ; " but I can assure 
you of this, that if your despatches do not reach the 
Emperor, no one else shall ever know the contents." 

Thereupon the Due de Bassano suggested that I should 
take advantage of this opportunity to write to the Marshal. 
It seemed evident to us that the latter was returning, in 
concert with Marshal Victor, to the point of junction with 
the army of Moscow. I accordingly handed my letters to 
the brave traveller. 

A long time passed after his departure. One Sunday, 
during mass, I was told that M. Abramowietz had returned. 
You can imagine the excitement with which I called at his 
house. Soon M. Abramowietz, who had naturally gone 
first to the Due de Bassano's, came and brought me 
both letters and verbal news. The whole was reassur- 
ing, and I saw that we had well judged the position 
in assuming that the 2nd and 6th Corps had joined the 
Emperor. Either from prudence or from the inrooted 
sentiment of the Poles, which closed their eyes to the 
real state of affairs, M. Abramowietz wrapped him- 
self in great reserve, at least in so far as I was con- 
cerned, and gave me no clue to what he had perhaps 
already communicated to the Due de Bassano. He had 
arrived almost at the moment when the corps of Bellune 



i68 MEMOIRS OF MARSHAL OUDINOT 

and Reg'gio were joining the Emperor, and he must 
certainly have obtained a true idea of the position. 
But the story of his journey was told me. Knowing the 
country perfectly, he had decided to put the partisans off 
the scent by crossing the various lakes, which he hoped to 
find entirely frozen. When he reached the first, he sounded 
the thickness of the ice with a long iron-shod stick. The 
trial did not seem satisfactory ; but, " What matter } " said 
he. " I am only risking my life, and if I am drowned, the 
despatches will disappear with me. Forwards ! " It was 
in this spirit that he took the first few steps upon the ice, 
which cracked beneath his feet and left the gulf open 
behind him. By running lightly and speedily with the aid 
of his stick, he went forward full of hope and ardour, closing 
his ears to the fatal sound which threatened his life at each 
movement he made. But God protected him. The gulf 
did not open before him ; he left it behind and did not 
look back at it. Had he been swallowed up, his wife, his 
friends, his country would never have known his fate, and 
this modest courage, the courage of duty accomplished, 
would have remained unknown. 

Days of absolute silence followed upon the details you 
have just read. No direct, no official news reached us from 
the army, which we knew to be marching towards Wilna. 
The cold increased, and all our hearts were wrung when we 
thought of that mass of men tramping along between the 
snow, which covered all things, and the gre}- sky, which 
was no longer pierced by a single ray of the sun. 



CHAPTER V 



Oudinot manoeuvres to become master of the Beresina — Battle of Borizow — 
General Corbineau accidentally discovers the ford of Sludianka — Erec- 
tion of bridges — Oudinot's active measures to facilitate the crossing — He 
is grievously vi^ounded — Details of the retreat — Oudinot is nearly captured 
at Pletchnitzy — His energy and greatness of soul under this circumstance 
— He rejoins the duchess at Wilna— The Emperor leaves the army — The 
return — Cruel sufferings — The night of the 7th of December — All the food 
is frozen — Marshal Oudinot's grief at hearing of the loss of his artillery — 
In spite of the evidences he refuses to believe n the destruction of the 
army — General Rapp at Dantzig — The journey across Germany — Return 
to Bar-le-Duc. 



The 2nd Corps, commanded for the second time by 
Oudinot, who had rejoined it on the 4th of Novem- 
ber after the wound received by Gouvion-Saint-Cyr, 
was growing weaker and weaker, while the enemy on 
the other hand was receiving reinforcements. He 
was compelled to retire and endeavour to rejoin 
Marshal Victor, and he hoped at Borizow, on the 
upper reaches of the Beresina, to make himself 
master of the only road which could afford a passage 
to the Emperor and the wretched remnants brought 
back by him from Moscow. Which of the two, 
Oudinot or Wittgenstein, would become master of 
that little water-course, but lately an insignificant 

stream, now a fatal gulf? The Due de Reggio and 
12 169 



lyo MEMOIRS OF 

the Due de Bellune possessed the only solid and 
organized bodies of troops remaining in Russia, but 
their united effective strength scarcely amounted to 
a total of twenty-fiv^e thousand men. They vainly 
attacked at Smoliantzy, and were unable to break 
through the enemy. At the same time the Polish 
General Dombrowsky, who was holding the bridge 
of Borizow for us— our last hope ! — lost it after a 
sanguinary combat. 

The sudden arrival of Oudinot almost restored the 
position. He swooped upon Borizow, surprised 
General Pahlen's advance-o'uard, killed or took 
prisoner twelve hundred men, and rushed upon the 
bridge. . . . Too late ! The Russians, unable to 
hold it, had set fire to it as they fled. 

Fortunately, General Corbineau, who had been 
separated from the 2nd Corps since the retreat, and 
who had fallen back somewhat at haphazard, ob- 
served some peasants fording the Beresina opposite 
Studianka, three leagues above Borizow. So soon 
as he was informed of this, Oudinot hastened to send 
Corbineau with this valuable information to the 
Emperor. Napoleon at once adopted the idea of 
using the ford at Studianka, and in order to deceive 
the enemy, ordered feigned works of passage to be 
executed on other points below Borizow. 



MARSHAL OUDINOT 171 

He arrived at seven o'clock in the morning on the 
26th of November at the village of Weselowo, on 
the left bank of the Beresina, opposite Studianka, 
which is on the right bank.^ He said to Oudinot, 
who had already begun his preparations, concealing 
them as much as possible : 

" Well, you shall be my locksmith and open that 
passage for me." 

At the same time Berthier, seated in the snow, 
wrote out the orders of the day. 

Corbineau crossed with a few cavalry-men, who, 
taking foot-soldiers behind them, occupied a small 
wood on the right bank, after dislodging some Cos- 
sacks. At the same time General Eble's pontoniers, 
plunging into the water up to their shoulders, and 
surrounded with ice which crystallized around their 
chests, drove in the piles intended for the foundations 
of two bridges. The right one was finished at one 
o'clock in the afternoon on the 26th, the left three 
hours later. Oudinot's corps crossed forthwith to 
the right bank, took up its position with two pieces 
of ordnance, threw itself upon the Russian troops 
commanded by General Tchaplitz, dispersed them 
and drove them back beyond Brilowa, and thus 
assured a free passage. 

^ Thiers is wrong in describing Studianka as on the left bank (Vol. xii.). A 
note of Victor Oudinot, an eye-witness, confirms the above detail. 



172 MEMOIRS OF 

That night Oudinot slept upon that terrible ground, 
with no other shelter than some boughs of trees. 
There was not even any straw, and nothing to drink 
but melted snow. We resume the Duchesse de 
Reggio's narrative : 

Despite my sinister presentiments, I did not dream of 
leaving Wilna. There was much talk among the refugees 
of a speedy retreat to Warsaw ; but in no case should I 
have followed that route, since the one which my husband 
had prescribed for me by way of precaution in case of 
need ran by Kowno and Konigsberg. But the Due de 
Bassano, who was responsible for my safety to the Marshal, 
and who felt certain of having time enough before him to 
retreat, did not think it necessary to send me on ahead, 
which would have been an evident signal of distress for 
the whole town. 

We thus came to the 2nd of December, the anniversary 
of the Emperor's coronation. Eight years had passed 
since that event, which they proposed to commemorate once 
again. The day rose still more misty and frosty than the 
preceding ones. My uncle and I in gloomy silence were 
awaiting our sad breakfast, exchanging, not without effort, 
a few words with the excellent M. Verger, the Marshal's 
war-commissary and private secretary. An enormous 
weight seemed to crush us all three, when suddenly the 
door burst open, and there appeared before my eyes a sort of 
phantom, which resembled M. Le Tellier. I gave a scream 
and darted towards him ; he took my two hands, placed 



MARSHAL OUDINOT 173 

me in an easy chair, sat down by my side, and, keeping 
my hands in his, said in a hollow voice : 

" I bring you news of your husband . . ." 

"Ah, God pity me!" I cried. 

"Calm yourself," resumed the aide-de-camp, "he is alive, 
he is coming, but ... he has received ... he is wounded 
again ... a little." 

I had felt the blow at M. Le Tellier's entrance, and I 
remained dumb, without strength or words to ask for 
details. In vain M. Le Tellier put four lines written by 
your father before my eyes : I could distinguish nothing. 
He then read out to me, and 1 understood. The words 
speaking of a return to France revived me, and I returned 
to life. 

" Come," I said to M. Le Tellier, " let us go, let us go 
and meet him." 

"Ah, as to that," he replied, "I have my orders, and 
you shall not leave this place." 

"We shall see about that," I answered. " Do you think 
I will wait quietly and not at once take him all the help 
he stands in need of?" 

" He foresaw your project, madame, and he has so rigor- 
ously prescribed my line of conduct that I will not let you 
go even if I have to lock }Ou up to prevent you." 

My uncle took the young man's part, and I had to bow 
my head, and resigned myself to letting M. Verger go 
alone, the kind man offering to carry at once to the 
wounded hero all that I could think of as useful for him. 

When all my arrangements were made, I greedily asked 



174 MEMOIRS OF 

]\I. Le Tellier for details. He took care to hide from me, 
as much as possible, the gravity of the wound, and thus 
left me the strength and presence of mind to listen to the 
rest. 

" Where is the Emperor ? where is the army ? " I asked. 

" The Emperor ! " he replied with a sombre air. " It is his 
victims that we have to think of His vast, mad enterprise, 
his boundless ambition, his unequalled selfishness have cost 
us 400,000 men . , . You ask me for news of the army, 
madame : it no longer exists , . . Look at me : I am one 
of the strongest, one of the best clad of those who, in small 
numbers and by a miracle, have escaped that immense 
disaster ! " 

Tears of rage and despair sometimes interrupted the 
young man's vehement words. During two consecutive 
hours, my uncle and I listened to the terrible story of the 
retreat from Moscow. He told it us by hearsay up to the 
moment when, with his own eyes, he saw the 2nd Corps 
joining the scared remnants of the Grande Armee. This 
junction, to which should be added that of the 6th Corps 
(under Marshal Victor), began on the 20th of November 
and was not completed until the 25th. 

It was on the 24th, after his junction, that the Due dc 
Reggio sent three hundred men to Aukoholda to pretend 
to build a bridge over the Reresina, while in the succeeding 
night he began, with all possible secrecy, to construct the 
real bridge opposite Studianka. 

On the 26th, Marshal Oudinot was the first to pass^ 
The Emperor followed him on the 27th. Wittgenstein 



MARSHAL OUDINOT 



^1S 



pressed our retreat on the rear, while Tchitchakofif s corps 
awaited us on the French side. Therefore, but for Marshal 
Oudinot's clever ruse, but for the false bridge which 
deceived the Admiral and made him concentrate his 
forces on a distant point from that at which we really- 
proposed to cross the Beresina, our army with its leader, 
pressed before and behind by the Russians, would have 
been lost. 

It was your father, my children, who saved what returned 
from there, as has been universally acknowledged. 

In spite of the decrease in numbers, this crossing took 
longer than if it had been the case of a well-organized 
army ; and it was not over when Tchitchakoff, realizing 
his mistake, hastened up to meet us, while Wittgenstein 
was upon our backs. It was then that the crossing of this 
fatal river assumed a character of horror of which no bare 
narrative can give you an idea, and which I will not 
here attempt to describe to you. 

On the 28th snow fell so thickly that people could 
not see each other at a distance of thirty paces. 
Oudinot tried to hold in check General Tchitchakoff, 
vi^ho marched up from Borizow along the right bank 
of the Beresina. Our men were skirmishing ame>ng 
the woods interspersed with clearings. A company 
of Cossacks, springing from the whitened soil, 
attacked our artillery, and the Due de Reggio sent 
an aide-de-camp to the rear to bring up a squadron 



176 MEMOIRS OF 

of Cuirassiers. He was waiting impatiently amid a 
hail-storm of bullets, gay in spite of the danger, and 
humming at the projectiles, between his teeth, " You 
sha'n't catch me just yet." Everybody was looking 
out expectantly for the Cuirassiers, when suddenly 
the Marshal fell from his horse. 

While our men were being crushed upon the bridge, or 
dying beneath it, drowned, frozen, or cut to pieces by the 
floating ice, your father marched forwards, fighting. On the 
28th, in the wood of Zameski, he received a bullet which 
passed through his body. His foot caught in the stirrup, 
he was dragged with his head on the ground by the 
startled horse, until one of the aides-de-camp flew to the 
animal's bridle and prevented a greater misfortune. 

The Marshal had been shot from below ; the bullet had 
entered low down in his side, but in consequence of the 
destiny which has always multiplied dangers of every kind 
about your father and yet preserved his life, the bullet, 
notwithstanding the long course it had taken, struck no 
vital organ. 

The wounded man was conveyed, as best he could, 
through the thick of the battle. He had lost speech but 
not consciousness. The sad news soon reached the 
Emperor, who was close at hand. He at once ordered his 
whole surgical and medical staft" to be placed at the 
Marshal's disposal, and sent him his son Victor, who was 
in the Chasseurs of the Guard. 

The Marshal refused to be bound down. Tils ijavc him 



MARSHAL OUDINOT 177 

a napkin to bite into, and the operation commenced. In 
vain the knife probed to a depth of six or seven inches ; it 
could not reach the bullet, which was never extracted. 

The sufferer had not given way either physically or 
morally. He heard all that was whispered about him, 
and notably Dr. Desgenette's remark : " If he vomits, he's a 
dead man." This accident did not take place, and at last 
they were able to apply the first bandage. But it became 
necessary almost immediately to move the martyred man, 
in order to get him away from the field of battle. Amid 
the terrible cold and dangers of every kind, he had to 
undertake a journey of nearly a hundred leagues. 

I must here explain that M. Le Tellier had spared me 
as much as possible in what concerned the principal 
interest I possessed in his story ; but he did not detract 
from the dark side of the rest of his picture. 

"And now," he asked, "what is to become of us, sup- 
posing the remnant from the Beresina holds out in part 
against the increasing cold, the unappeasable famine of this 
desolate route, and finally the Russians, who are pursuing us 
methodically and in good order ? Granting, I say, that a 
morsel of the Grande Armee reaches us here, what are we 
to do with it ? Under what conditions and how are we to 
regain our frontier .<* And yet," repeated the young man 
furiously, " we have not once been beaten by the enemy. 
We have only yielded to the force of cold and hunger ; but 
as to the Russians, each time, during the retreat, that we 
faced about, we beat them. 

" When the foundations of that historic bridge, the sole 



178 MEMOIRS OF 

hope of safety offered us, had to be laid in the Beresina, at 
the voice of their chief those men of duty and resolution 
marched silently into the water, never interrupting their 
work save to turn aside the huge pieces of ice which 
threatened to cut them in two like a sword. They drove 
in the piles, the ground-work of the construction, and went 
on striking their blows until the moment came when they 
felt death seize them. Not one came out alive, but others 
stepped in to complete the work — the work of a day which 
should leave an immortal memory ! 

" Long deprived of its daily nourishment, the army 
suffer cruelly. Your husband and his staff feel the effects 
of this privation ; but perhaps worse still is the absence 
of sleeping accommodation in this infernal temperature. 
With no other covering but our cloaks, we have long been 
sleeping in the snow. We have returned in rags." 

I looked at him with greater attention. His always 
handsome but tragical face now had something so sombre 
that I was astounded. Wlien he had appeared to me two 
hours before, I thought I saw a phantom ; and indeed his 
hollow cheeks, his look of despair, the smoke from the 
bivouacs incrusted in* his skin gave him an air that was 
quite cadaverous. His clothes were worn, tarnished, 
almost colourless. His boots were split and fastened with 
string ; in fact the catastrophe which he had so eloquently 
described seemed personified in himself. 

"But, after all, where have you left the Marshal.'" I 
asked. 

"Making for Wilna," he replied. "With him in the 



MARSHAL OUDINOT 179 

carnage are his son, a doctor, and an aide-de-camp ; on the 
box are Pils and a footman. He is surrounded with an 
escort, which has become necessary because of the Cos^ 
sacks who infest the whole country we have to cross. 
You see, madame," he continued, "that it is impossible for 
me to allow you to run the risk of such a journey." 

"But in Heaven's name," I replied, "is the risk not 
equally great for my husband } " 

" No, because he has an escort which you would be 
without. I repeat, the Marshal's life and journey are 
safe." 

In spite of his state of exhaustion, M. Le Tellier would 
hardly take time to eat, or even to change his clothes, before 
going to inform the Due de Bassano of the general condition 
of the wreck of our army. He had nothing now to conceal, 
and the young man unrolled before the Minister the black 
and terrible picture which had passed before my eyes. 
After that he withdrew into absolute silence, by reason 
of the command the Marshal had laid upon him to reveal 
the story of our misery only to those entitled to hear it. 
I was reassured as to the life of Victor, who was accomipany- 
ing his father. I knew also that Generals Pajol and de 
Lorencez were both alive, and retained their appearance of 
command. The Minister's silence, and ours, failed for long 
to stop the dull but significant rumours which began to 
spread about the town of Wilna. The news of this second 
wound of the Marshal's was alone a serious omen, which 
at once brought me many marks of sympathy. What the 
Due de Bassano had foreseen was now realized ; alarm 



i8o MEMOIRS OF 

reigned on every hand, and people came to me to know 
what road I meant to take, before deciding which they 
would follow themselves. 

The night which came after that terrible day of the 
2nd of December seemed very long to me. On the morn- 
ing of the 3rd, my uncle entered my room, followed by 
Mme. Morel, who obliged me to take a little chocolate, an 
incident I should certainly not have mentioned if what 
I left had not gone to relieve a starving man, who 
threw himself upon the tray carried off by Mme. Morel. I 
heard a mingled sound of voices and clattering china in 
the next room, and I had no time to make enquiries when 
my uncle, who had hurriedly left me, returned with Victor. 
The latter forestalled all apprehension on my part by call- 
ing out at the door that his father was no worse, and that he 
had come to announce his probable arrival for the next day. 

My satisfaction at this news very soon dispelled the 
momentary terror with which I had been seized at sight 
of the traveller. Victor was really dying of hunger, and it 
was he who, seeing the remains of my breakfast leave my 
room, had fallen upon it like a wolf upon its prey. 

" Well ! " said I to Victor, " I can gain twenty-four hours 
by going to meet him ; and since you arrived without any 
obstacles, why should you put any in my way ? " 

My step-son was no more ready to be convinced than 
was M. Le Tellier, and you will understand why when you 
read what follows. 

"In the first place," said Victor, "it was providential 
that Le Tellier and I succeeded in escaping the Cossacks 



MARSHAL OUDINOT i8i 

scattered over the road. But listen now to what Le Tellier 
was not able to tell you, and thank God that we escaped 
the many dangers to which my father was exposed shortly 
after despatching his first aide-de-camp." 

The extraordinary incident that had occurred was this : 

Lying in his carriage, which was occupied besides by his 
son, an aide-de-camp and his surgeon, the Marshal travelled 
under an escort of infantry. At first they proceeded slowly 
and cautiously ; but on the second day, as the road ap- 
parently continued clear, the wounded man determined to 
try and hasten the painful journey, and gave orders to 
drive ahead of the detachment, and trot to the next resting- 
place. This was the village of Pletchnitzy, 

The Marshal was placed in a room warmed by a stove. 
He thought himself alone, and was waiting on a pallet for 
Dr. Capiomont to prepare the dressing for his wound, when 
a cannon-shot shook the wooden shed in which he lay, and 
caused the victim to be struck by a splinter of the partition. 
At the same time, four or five Jewish children were tumbled 
off the top of the stove, where they had heaped themselves 
up to enjoy the heat unobserved. Thereupon Victor 
entered with the other gentlemen, and told the Marshal 
that the village was surrounded by five hundred Cossacks, 
with two pieces of artillery, one of which had already given 
news of itself 

On our side they were twenty-five to thirty, all told, to 
defend that fine prize, a Marshal of the Empire! Will you 
believe that your father, over-excited at the thought of 
being taken prisoner by the Cossacks, insisted on being 



1 82 MEMOIRS OF 

set upon his horse. He was not able to keep himself up, 
and was carried back almost fainting to his wretched bed, 
while all the others hastened to the defence. They made 
use of everything that came to hand to form a sort of 
barricade around the house. During this time the Marshal 
had recovered consciousness, and he found by his side the 
wife of the military intendant, Martouret, who had, at her 
own risk and peril, followed her husband throughout the 
campaign. She had borne with surprising courage the 
unequalled trials of this retreat. Her health had been 
able to withstand it ; and she had made herself useful 
and serviceable to every one. 

On recognizing her, the Marshal made her give him his 
pistols ; and from his bed, aiming through an opening- 
opposite, he fired at the Cossacks. His shots were lost in 
the general din. The struggle was a keen one, for each 
was determined to be killed rather than surrender. But 
whether this obstinate defence imposed upon the enemy, 
or whether they were ignorant of the Marshal's, rank, 
which would have been so fine a trophy for them, they 
failed to profit intelligently by the situation, and gave time 
to a remnant of a French column to arrive. So soon as 
they perceived it, they thought of no more but to seize any 
horses that they could find ; and the adventure ended in 
a flight, rather than a retreat, on their part. Naturally, it 
had heated the wounded Marshal's blood, and while thank- 
ing God for the sort of miracle by which he had been 
saved, he passed a very bad night. 

Under any other conditions, the continuance of his 



MARSHAL OUDINOT 183 

journey would have been regarded as impossible ; but at 
that time the word had been erased from the dictionary ! 
They took the road therefore the next day, but slowly, 
and surrounded by an escort, which they no longer felt 
tempted to go beyond. 

This day of the 3rd was spent by my step-son in relating, 
and by my uncle and myself in listening. 

Several of the Marshal's officers went ahead to assure 
me of his speedy arrival. It was high time, for the ther- 
mometer had descended to 18° below zero ; and I saw, with 
alarm, night approaching, when the sound of the carriage 
under the archway was heard. I hastened to the door: it 
was open, and nothing came out of it. The servants seemed 
frozen to the box. At last, with great difficulty, the Mar- 
shal, broken by his sufferings and stiff with cold, was 
lifted out of the carriage. They offered to carry him up 
the stairs, but he refused, and bent in two, unrecognizable 
from head to foot, he arrived prostrate before the fire 
which awaited him. 

I was then able to realize the unspeakable change which 
a serious wound, accompanied by keen moral suffering, 
had brought about in so strong and vigorous a constitution. 
But it was no time for reflection. A warm bed was at 
once made ready, and I was present at the dressing of that 
open wound, which refused to give up the projectile, 
although it got rid gradually of all that had entered with 
it. Shirt, vest, uniform, astrakhan : the bullet had carried 
all in with it ; and it was not until his vigorous organization 
had expelled all these foreign bodies that the wound could 



1 84 MEMOIRS OF 

be expected to heal. As yet we were only at the com- 
mencement. 

When he had rested, the Marshal asked for food, and 
wished to have it served at his bed-side, to which he 
naturally invited his travelling companions. They were 
fairly numerous and all famished. At the sight of the 
clean table-linen, of the plate, and the candles, and still 
more upon scenting the succulent dishes which I had taken 
pleasure in having prepared for them, there was an hurrah 
of surprise as well as satisfaction ; and to my great delight 
it was the Marshal who led it. 

" Is it not a dream," he asked, " to find a well-supplied 
table again ? " 

And thereupon followed the distressing details of their 
privations. They were long over their meal, and I felt 
inclined both to laugh and cry at all that I saw and heard. 

The Marshal had a good night ; but the next morning 
his bed was besieged, not only by all those who had re- 
mained at Wilna, but by those who began to arrive in 
disorderly crowds. It was the commencement of the rout ; 
and your father, who was unable to understand any move- 
ment not based upon duty and discipline, was keenly irri- 
tated on each fresh occasion. Nothing could persuade him 
of the terrible truth, of which evidences lay on every side, 
that there was no army left. 

Every day brought into Wilna masses of sick and 
wounded, of soldiers without chiefs, and chiefs without 
commands. Convoys of dying soldiers, heaped up in the 
wagons, were unable to find room in the overcrowded 



MARSHAL OUDINOT 185 

hospitals. The Governor, losing the little head he had left, 
put neither men nor things in their right places, and thus 
increased the chances of the terrible disorder which broke 
out a few days later, when the shadow of a few apparently 
still organized bodies presented itself in its turn. 

The Marshal, knowing thoroughly what provisions of all 
kinds Wilna contained, insisted that we could and should 
defend ourselves there long enough to recover and reorganize 
ourselves a little. On this subject he had lively discussions 
with all the heads who surrounded his bed : Marshal 
Gouvion-Saint-Cyr, General Pajol, the Due de Bassano. 

The last, on the third day after my husband's arrival, 
came earlier than usual, and expressed a wish to speak to 
him in private. The interview was a short one, but of such 
a kind that, on separating, the two bade one another a 
special and eloquent good-bye. I met the Minister as 
he was going out. He took me aside, and, in a low and 
eager voice, said : 

"I have just persuaded the Marshal to set out to-day. 
Hurry your preparations as much as you can ; you have 
not a moment to lose." 

" But how," I asked, " did you succeed in obtaining so 
prompt a decision from the Marshal, who only yesterday 
argued against all of us that we should defend ourselves 
here .? " 

*' Ah ! " he replied, " my argument was convincing ; " and 

lowering his voice still more, he added, " The Emperor 

passed us last night on his return to France . . ." 

I felt as though in a dream ; but I understood that this 
13 



1 86 MEMOIRS OF 

was not the time for comment. I took leave of the Minister, 
and he of me. He was to start the next day, and strongly 
urged us to precede him. As to your father, I found him 
in a state of violent excitement. He was furious at recog- 
nizing at last the impossibility of the struggle ; and once 
compelled to give way, he wished to leave at the earliest 
possible moment. 

It was on this fatal day and during the subsequent 
night that the thermometer fell from 18° to 28' below 
zero! 

We left Victor behind, to our great regret ; but he 
wished to wait for the chance of official instructions arriv- 
ing. General Pajol had gone ahead of us. General de 
Lcrencez, retained by the shadowy remnant of the 2nd 
Corps, of which he represented the staff, was one of the 
last to take the road for France. 

The Marshal was carefully packed into my comfortable 
carriage, with me by his side and Madame Morel opposite, 
while my uncle and Messieurs de Bourcet, Jacqueminot 
and Capiomont installed themselves in the Marshal's 
carriage, which was much less roomy than the other. 
The three last were attacked in different degrees by 
dysentery, one of the diseases which were ravaging the 
army ; and a fourth victim of this scourge came and asked 
their pity, saying that the place on the box which was 
destined for him would be his death. This was M. Rouget, 
the Marshal's viattrc dlwtcl. The four of them were 
already crowded ; but, as I have said, the word impos- 
sible did not then exist. They made room for the 



MARSHAL OUDINOT 187 

unhappy man, who sometimes on his knees in the midst 
of them, sometimes partly stretched upon their knees, 
twisted about in pain, and aroused all their commisera- 
tion. 

The box of this second carriage was occupied by two of 
our servants ; on the box of ours sat Pils and the cook. 
After we had taken a sad farewell of Victor and of all the 
half-frozen wounded who crowded into our apartments at 
the moment of departure, the carriage-doors were closed. 
It was time, for the cold was already nipping us. 

The carriages moved ^and soon scattered the snow like 
dust. We had an escort of twenty Cuirassiers, perfectly 
mounted, and wrapped in their great white mantles. But 
except a few white-faced Jews shivering as they hastened 
to their speculations, with which nothing ever interfered, 
we encountered not a living being on our way through 
the streets of that town which I had entered with so 
glad a heart two months before. 

Brave M. Le Tellier, with his phantom face, declaring 
himself the soundest of his comrades, had wished to per- 
form the service of this terrible day, and he galloped 
actively beside our carriage. He kept his place while, 
little by little, I beheld the number of Cuirassiers of our 
escort diminish. Did a single one reach our first bivouac ? 
I am unable to say, because the night put an end to all 
observation. I only remember that the last two soldiers I 
was able to see had their long moustaches stiffened by the 
icicles formed from their breath. 

Soon all grew confused in the darkness, but not too 



1 88 MEMOIRS OF 

soon, however, to prevent me, when we reached the foot 
of the well-known mountain which we had to ascend, from 
distinguishing the soldiers l}'ing stiff and stark along all 
the slope which they had vainly endeavoured to climb. 
They had fallen down, overcome by the cold ; and there, 
when one fell, he did not get up again. ... A few pools 
of blood had escaped from their chests and nostrils and 
stained red the snow. 

Nothing has ever been able to efface from my mind the 
terrible impression I retained of this ascent across this 
field strewn with the dead. And yet it was but the com- 
mencement of the end. 

Our rough-shod horses quickly surmounted this steep 
and forbidding incline, and soon we had left the awful 
spectacle behind us. The Marshal kept a profound sil- 
ence ; he felt instinctively all that I must suffer from 
what I saw ; but he suffered too deeply himself to ques- 
tion me. We went like the wind along this table-land, 
which we had traversed with so much difficulty a few weeks 
aRO. But the snow had smoothed the roads . . . 

Soon I was able to distinguish nothing upon its white- 
ness save the figure of M. Le Tellier, who continued to 
gallop by the carriage door. I could not say exactly at 
what time he stopped the carriage, crying that he was 
going to prepare a lodging for us in a building of which 
he had caught sight. He soon returned. " Quick, niadame 
la marcchale," he said, opening the carriage door, " out 
you come." Seized by a horrible feeling of this deathly 
temperature, I asked myself how my wounded husband 



MARSHAL OUDINOT 189 

would bear it. Our unfortunate servants, stiffened by 
the cold on their outside seats, nevertheless retained the 
energy to do their duty. The Marshal was carried upon 
one of his mattresses, and we moved towards a kind of 
shapeless shed, which at a distance seemed to me to be 
surrounded by a number of great black circles drawn 
upon that eternal snow. They consisted of men, who 
were all still moving then ; but the next day . . . 

The half-burnt post-house which M. Le Tellier made us 
enter had been crowded during the daytime not only by 
those who were returning from the army and who had 
been able to resist the cold so far, but by those who were 
travelling in the opposite direction, and who had come 
from Konigsberg in order to rejoin what they still called 
the army. It was the staff and the last portion of Loison's 
division, which the Emperor had sent for. The General 
and his officers had sought shelter in this house, the only 
one left standing on that devastated road, and part of it 
had been demolished to provide firewood for the bivouac 
which we saw before us. 

So great was the crowd that M. Le Tellier had the 
greatest difficulty in penetrating. He struck some and 
stepped upon others, shouting to every one that Marshal 
Oudinot, who was dying, was also entitled to a place. No 
one listened ; no one made way or moved. He stormed 
in vain ; but before long he perceived that several among 
them were dying, and some already dead. He tried 
to drag outside a number of the latter, so as to make 
room for us ; but those who remained took advantage of 



190 



MEMOIRS OF 



his exertions and, with the brutal selfishness which was 
the only sentiment left to most of them, stretched them- 
selves more at their ease. However, after crossing the 
first room in which reigned this frightful confusion, we 
penetrated to the second, which was filled with General 
Loison's officers. These were so closely packed that 
they could neither lie down nor sit, and they stood up so 
as to occupy less room, including the general, who, in 
the name of my husband, obtained just sufficient room to 
lay before the fire the little mattress upon which he 
reclined. I sat down at the foot of the mattress. The 
other occupants of our two carriages found shelter some- 
how, as did also poor Mme. Abramowietz, who, driving 
alone in her calash, had followed our fortunes, 

Dr Capiomont tried to dress the sick man's wound ; but 
everything froze beneath his hands, and he had to give up 
the attempt. We tried to use the provisions brought on 
one side from Wilna and on the other from Konigsberg ; 
but everything — bread, wine, ham, poultry — was frozen, 
and could not be thawed even when put before the 
stove. A slight dampness was all that appeared on the 
outside of the eatables; the inside remained as hard as 
stone. 

None of us who were packed into this room were able to 
sleep, since it was a condition of admittance that one should 
remain standing. For a moment I saw General Loison, 
who was standing over us, close his eyes and sway to and 
fro above our heads. His fall would have crushed us, and 
I thought it best to warn him. 



MARSHAL OUDINOT 191 

We suffered so much where we were that it was easy to 
imagine how things were going outside : we felt Death all 
around us. , . . The fire in the stove grew low for want of 
fuel ; but where and how to find any? It was almost risk- 
ing one's life. That good Dr. Capiomont ventured out, 
however, and I can still see him returning in triumph with 
a part of a cannon-wheel, which blazed up and gave us the 
necessary energy at the moment of departure. 

Again it was M. Le Tellier who came to give us the 
signal. Day had not yet broken ; but it was high time to 
restore to movement our people and our horses, which had 
escaped by a miracle from the disasters of the night. 
Besides, the snow showed up only too well all that sur- 
rounded us. The Marshal was carried quickly to his 
carriage ; but however briskly the rest of us followed him, 
we had plenty of time in which to take in the sight 
that met our eyes. The bivouacs of the night before stood 
out black against the snow ; but all was extinct and 
motionless. How many of the men were dead ? How 
many dying .? I know not ; but it is notorious that this 
night of the 7th of December 181 2 was one of the most 
deadly, and that its ravages on the remains of our army 
were terrible. 

Shut up in our carriage, between the grey sky and the 
white ground, we felt as though we were wrapped in our 
shrouds. The pale sun, which had shown itself at moments 
the day before, now refused to appear; and although in 
such cold as this it has no power to prevent freezing and 
death, it at least prevents despair. 



192 MEMOIRS OF 

You know how desolate I had thought this road when 
we travelled by it before. Now we saw not a single inhabi- 
tant near the ruins of which I have spoken to you. Only, 
at rare intervals, there rose a few blackened chimneys, 
which I sometimes took for Cossacks on the look-out. The 
scattered fir-trees caused me the same fright. I then 
pictured my husband as a prisoner of war, and was sure 
that he would never recover from it. My apprehensions 
were increased by the presence of my uncle, whose serenity 
never diminished in the midst of this calamity which I had 
inv^oluntarily brought down upon him. I often thought of 
his wife and children seated around that fireside from which 
I had perhaps torn him for ever. . . . Then I would lose 
my head when I thought of my responsibility ; for, as you 
can understand, we were all there from duty : my husband 
and those of his profession followed their destiny ; I was 
accomplishing mine ; but in my uncle's case, he had forced 
his, through sheer devotion for myself 

We were not able to communicate often between the two 
carriages, for our people, dulled with the cold, could not 
easily serve as messengers. They only protected them- 
selves against the frost by sitting huddled on their box, and 
covering as far as possible their feet, hands and noses. 
Our escort had disappeared. M. Le Tellier alone rode by 
our side, as on the day before. 

I do not know how we managed to live during this day 
of travel; the cold absorbed all our faculties. At nightfall, 
]\I. Lc Tellier made us turn sharp off to the left ; for he 
had a marvellous power of finding his way, in spite of the 



MARSHAL OUDINOT 193 

uniformity which the snow seemed to produce. We drove 
into a village called, I believe, Tchismori. The houses 
were standing ; it did not offer that appearance of devasta- 
tion which we had so long had before our eyes. The 
carriage pulled up before the house of the priest, who 
quickly put at our disposal two little rooms, of which one 
was heated by a stove. Soon we were gathered round a 
copious dish of potatoes, which to tell the truth, constituted 
the first nourishment we had taken since leaving Wilna. 
The warmth had restored to our stomachs a part of their 
faculties, and those of us who had been attacked with 
dysentery experienced a racking pain resembling sudden 
hunger. All of us, excepting my uncle, showed signs of 
real suffering and great irritation. But he, the excellent 
man, had preserved his sweet and equal temper, and I 
gladly perceived that till then his health had withstood 
every trial. 

At daybreak we were all on foot to enter the carriages 
which were ready and waiting for us. In spite of the 
comparatively good night which the Marshal spent, the 
doctor was not content with the state of his wound. It 
had inflamed and caused him so much pain that he did 
not know what position to take in the carriage. And yet 
it was necessary that we should push ahead ... 

M. Delamarre, the Marshal's aide-de-camp, had joined 
us at Tchismori during the night. Although he had left 
Wilna only a few hours after us, he had new and melan- 
choly details to give us. He had witnessed the increase of 
the tumultuous disorder which we knew to have begun in 



194 MEMOIRS OF 

the town. The mountain was becoming more and more 
encumbered ; and they were preparing to burn the wretched 
remnants of our lodging of the night before. 

General de Lorencez had not yet returned to Wilna ; 
Victor was still waiting there with a few wretched remnants 
of his regiment ; General Pajol alone, compelled by his 
wound to return, followed us closely. He soon joined us 
in a Jew's cabin where we had been obliged to set down 
the Marshal, so as to try and dress his wound, which was 
becoming more and more inflamed. He should have had 
poultices, but they froze in the doctor's hands. The latter, 
however, succeeded in giving some relief to his patient. 

At nightfall we reached Kowno, and alighted at the 
house of the Military Intendant, M. de Baudecour. He 
had stayed with us at Bar, as well as his wife, who accom- 
panied him as far as Mayence, when he set out to join the 
Grande Armee eleven months earlier. He busied himself 
in seeing to the comforts of the Marshal and myself with 
extreme kindness, but it was not until I had seen my 
husband receiving all his first cares that I perceived the 
violent grief that seemed to oppress our host. My evident 
anxiety made him speak, and he anticipated my question 
by saying, amid a torrent of sobs : 

"I have lost my only son during this retreat, and I have 
only learnt it two hours ago." 

A mournful silence succeeded this revelation. What 
could we say to the heart-broken father? ^ly e}'es did 
not leave him. He soon actively resumed the duties 
demanded of him by hospitality, but his domestic arrange- 



MARSHAL OUDINOT 



f95 



ments did not second his kind intentions. The space at 
his disposal consisted of but one decent room, that in which 
we had been received. It was at the same time sitting- 
room, office, and entrance-hall ; for it was preceded by no 
sort of passage, and you can understand that it was 
impossible to ask people to wait outside in the cold. You 
can imagine the pressure put upon the poor Military 
Intendant, who had to attend to so many diverse and 
urgent matters, and, who, moreover, wished to have dinner 
served for us. The stove gave out a great heat, and the 
crowd was stifling. 

On leaving Kowno, we crossed the Niemen, which was 
covered with thick ice, and reached the well-known slope, 
which was like that of Wilna on a smaller scale. Our poor 
horses were just able to drag us out of this difficult place, 
where a few days later the swords were broken of the 
valiant captains who had succeeded in carrying them so 
far. It was at Kowno, in fact, that Ney gave up the 
retreat, if that was still the name for the shadow of a 
command which he strove to wield till the end over the few 
scattered remnants he had kept together on the march. 
They broke up completely on the banks of the Niemen, 
and after that each acted and marched on his own account. 

We had constantly travelled at the same rate as the 
second carriage, and we had gone some leagues beyond the 
slope of which I have spoken, when Pils, who noticed 
everything from his seat on the box, looked out for it in 
vain over the vast stretch of snow which we were crossing. 
We halted and waited. It was useless, nothing came in 



196 MEMOIRS OF 

sight. There was nothing to be seen but the eternal snow, 
behind us, before, on every side. " Drive on," said the 
Marshal. My heart seemed to split in two at the words. 
It seemed impossible to abandon my uncle. His wife, his 
children, all my family rose up before my eyes like 
threatening phantoms. On the other hand I felt that, 
before all, I must think of saving my husband. Between 
these two emotions I became like a madwoman. 

Meantime it was growing late, and M. Le Tellier, 
unfailingly true to his post, came and told us that in order 
to make Antonovo, a small country-house which the Mar- 
shal had appointed as our next resting-place, and fearing 
lest he should lose the way if we were overtaken by the 
darkness, he had taken a guide whom he had picked up in 
some ruined village. We discovered that it was a Jew, 
and I turned pale as death when 1 saw this man of ill-omen, 
clad in his long black gown, mounting our box and seating 
himself next to Pils. Soon, under his doubtful guidance, 
we turned off to the right, and thus lost from sight the 
slight traces which might still enable us to recognize the 
main road. It was almost dark, and we were trusting to 
this unknown wretch to guide us across that desert. I 
threw a last long look behind ; there was no uncle to be 
seen, and no one to tell him of our change of road, if 
fortunately he were still following us. 

The road Avas uneven, and we proceeded with diffi- 
culty. It became quite dark, and the guide, constantly 
questioned by Pils, continued to assure us that we were 
going right. I know not how long passed in this way. 



MARSH jiL OUDINOT 197 

At last M. Le Tellier exclaimed that we had arrived. 
He recognized our whereabouts, because the Marshal had 
encamped there with his army corps at the commencement 
of the campaign. He and his staff had been harboured at 

the chateau by the Comtesse de , a zealous Lithuanian, 

and they had parted mutually charmed with one another. 
The carriage drew up, the door was opened, and by the 
light of many torches, I saw the mistress of the house 
appear. As she came forward the Marshal said, from 
his carriage, "I have come to beg your hospitality once 
again." 

" How pleased we should have been to receive you," she 
said, in excellent French, in a clear, soft voice, " if you had 
not come under such melancholy auspices." 

We thought at first that these words referred to the 
Marshal's wound, or perhaps to the general distress, of 
which the news had quickly spread. But there was a more 
pressing calamity. The household had been attacked by 
typhus; seven persons had already succumbed to it, both 
among members of the family and refugees whom they 
had sheltered. One of the ladies of the family was still 
extremely ill. 

"What will you do?" asked the countess, after giving 
the Marshal a brief account of the case. " I was bound to 
tell you the truth, and if it does not alarm you, your rooms 
are ready for you." 

" I accept your hospitality," said the Marshal. 

Upon these words, the charming woman went to give 
her last orders, and to return to her patients. We had had 



198 MEMOIRS OF 

to choose between the dread of contagion and an ice-cold 
night in the midst of that desert. What a position ! 

We were soon rejoined by Mme. de , who showed 

us to a room furnished simply, but in the French style, in 
which there were two good beds. 

" I have put you as far away as possible from the epi- 
demic," she said, "but I must return to it at once. Fare- 
well, you shall not see me again." 

I need hardly tell you what passed within me, at the 
sight of this tranquil courage. The countess gave me no 
time to express myself as I should have wished ; but I 
hope that under such circumstances one's features are 
sufficiently expressive to convey all one wishes to. They 
soon brought us some provisions sent us by our kind 
hostess, but I could not eat. Our anguish had reached 
its climax, and for the first time I gave way beneath its 
weight. 

I beheld your father resting under that infected roof; I 
feared on my uncle's behalf both the cold and the pursuit 
of the Cossacks ; while with all my heart I shared the 
terrible troubles of our hosts. It was more than I was 
able to bear. 

I had just assisted at the dressing of the wound by Pils, 
in the absence of the surgeon. The Marshal, tired out, lay 
stretched on one of the two beds which had been pre- 
pared for us. I was about to seek some rest on the 
other, when suddenly a fierce jet of flame darted from the 
stove. It had been driven in by the wind, which was 
rising and blowing noisily. In an instant the room was 



MARSHAL OUDINOT 199 

filled with smoke. I rushed out terrified to call for help. 
But where was I to turn in this unknown and deserted 
house ? At that moment a fresh noise made a diversion. 
It was Pils, sent by Providence ; he had come to tell us 
that the second carriage had arrived. I will not seek to 
depict to you the contrast between the moments which 
ensued and those which had just passed. The fire, which 
had not had time to do much damage, was first put out, 
and soon the travellers, all suffering from cold, but safe 
and sound, were telling us of their adventure, due to a 
break-down of their carriage, which it had taken several 
hours to repair. 

We shortened as much as possible the sleepless night 
which followed that arduous day. Unable to afford any 
assistance to our hosts, we were naturally eager to leave 
them ; and soon we were once more driving, at break of 
day, over the white, frozen country. I believe that our 
tracks of the night before were our only guide ; for I do 
not remember seeing the Jew again. We resumed our 
journey along the main road, and after travelling as fast as 
our horses would go, we succeeded in reaching Wirbahlen 
before nightfall, and stopped before a deserted house. 

An effort was made to call upon the authorities, whom 
we hoped to find still organized ; but even if they were 
discovered, they were quite powerless, and we had scarcely 
a few logs of wood to burn. Our supper consisted of one 
grilled fish among our whole famished party. The tempera- 
ture did not relax in vigour, and this night of cold and 
famine was one of the hardest we had had to pass. 



200 MEMOIRS OF 

Nevertheless, the morning found us all still alive ; but the 
Marshal declared that we must rest for a space at the first 
halting-place that should offer some resources. This was 
the town of Gumbinnen, where we arrived still frozen, on 
the evening of the nth. I had noticed, on the journey 
out, the attractive aspect of this town, and it was still light 
enough to enable us to distinguish the clearly-marked 
streets. The cold prevented the inhabitants from going 
out, but the well-closed houses and pleasantly smoking 
chimneys made us very eager to enter one of these fortunate 
dwellings, fortunate because they were warm. 

At Gumbinnen there was still some sort of French 
organization, and a good lodging was at once found for the 
Marshal and the whole of his suite. And for the first time 
since leaving Wilna, we had a repast which did us good, 
since we partook of it in peace and warmth. Soup, followed 
by a beefsteak and potatoes — what a banquet, my children ! 
But what completed our joy was the possibility of at last 
being able to change our clothes. You may have observed 
that, like the heroines of romance who, as a witty woman 
has said, never seem to think, nor to have the chance, of 
putting on a clean shift, I had kept on mine, together with 
all I possessed in the shape of winter garments huddled on 
my body, for the last ten days. Well, I assure you that the 
little delicacies to which we were accustomed had soon been 
lost under our privations, and I was at last able to under- 
stand how those who are in want of a night's lodging and 
of bread cease to care for cleanliness. Till then, I had 
placed it first among the necessities of life, and when my 



MARSHAL OUDINOT 201 

heart rose involuntarily at the sight of the foul rags of 
poverty, I pitied the beggar more for his dirt than for his 
shivering or his hunger. I have learned to have sounder 
and fairer ideas since. But at Gumbinnen I was not yet 
sufficiently hardened to my calling as a canteen-woman's 
apprentice to be insensible to the luxuries of soap, combs, 
brushes, and clean linen. 

Our stay at Gumbinnen had given my husband's staff 
the time to join him, and one morning he gathered them 
round his bed. It was a solemn occasion, and I re- 
gretted that I had not a room of my own to which to 
retire. 

When all these young men were assembled in a semi- 
circle around their chief, he said : 

" Well, gentlemen, where are you going .'' " 

They looked at one another without speaking. 

The Marshal resumed : 

" What ! You are unwounded, you are in good health, 
and you leave the army ! Do you think I should be turn- 
ing my back upon it, if I could be of any use to it at this 
time ? " 

The dismay reached its height. At last, M. Achille 
Delamarre took courage, and said, apparently in the name 
of them all, since nobody contradicted him : 

" Monsieur le Mar6chal, you are our leader, our 'gover- 
nor ; ' we must follow your fortunes. Besides, there is 
nothing more to be done here, for the Emperor has gone, 
and the army no longer exists." 

These words, so constantly dinned into his ears, always 
14 



202 . MEMOIRS OF 

infuriated your father. *' In that case, gentlemen," he re- 
plied, " we shall reconstitute the army and bring it in the 
spring, with flags flying, to the Vistula. Wait for me there, 
and go and offer your services to the heads of corps who, 
more fortunate than I, are still able to be of use at their 
posts." 

Not one of the gentlemen strove to argue against the 
Marshal's opinion. They withdrew in silence, and their 
chief, after thus vigorously expressing his thoughts, did not 
return to the subject. He had the less excuse for doing so, 
as each succeeding day went more and more to prove the 
sad truth that there was no army left. 

The next day, M. Le Tellier, who had so nobly taken 
care of us, took the road for France, accompanied by 
Messieurs Delamarre, de la Chaise, and the rest, while 
Messieurs Jacqueminot and de Bourcet, still enfeebled by 
their dysentery, accompanied the Marshal, and travelled in 
the second carriage. After a time M. Jacqueminot pro- 
cured a little sledge, and going ahead of us every morn- 
ing, he bravely occupied himself, so long as we remained on 
foreign ground, in preparing lodgings for us. 

All more or less restored by our rest, we left Gumbinnen 
to go to VVehlau, which was still in the hands of the French. 
But the principal authority of the town was absent on our 
arrival, and we were unable to obtain any comfort. 

Our stay at Gumbinnen had enabled many of our com- 
panions in misfortune, deserters all, as the Marshal called 
them, to precede or await us. They had all taken the road 
in the dress they had on at the time. Some were covered 



MARSHAL OUDINOT 203 

with furs, and looked like bears ; others, who had lost all 
they had and were unable to buy anything in its stead, were 
clad in their full uniforms, as, for instance, General de 
Chasseloup of the Artillery. He shivered beneath his gold 
lace, in his sleigh formed of four planks. Unable to keep 
his whole body warm, he had found a means of preserving 
his ears, and wore a cotton nightcap pulled down to meet 
the collar of his uniform, and over this another cap of grey 
tafifeta. When he learned who we were, he arrived, accom- 
panied by Colonel Bodson, of the same branch of the ser- 
vice, to call upon the Marshal. Neither of them thought of 
their personal appearance : a matter of small importance 
truly ! The Marshal was touched by their eagerness to pay 
their respects to him, and at first received them very well ; 
but the scene changed when they started their litany of the 
misery we had left behind us, and of which they knew some- 
thing, having left Wilna later than any of those who had 
caught us up as yet. When the General had finished, the 
Colonel took up the thread. I do not know how long this 
would have gone on, if the Marshal, irritated beyond 
endurance, had not suddenly exclaimed : 

" My dear Bodson, do blow your nose ! " 

As a matter of fact, it had become very necessary ; and 
while this operation was taking place, the Marshal, bowing 
to the two gentlemen, closed the carriage-door, and we 
drove off. There was no laughter during this journey. 
But afterwards, when my husband and I have recalled this 
incident, we have often made merry over it. 

To return to Wehlau, where we spent a night as cold as 



204 



MEMOIRS OF 



ice. We ought to have grown accustomed to it, perhaps, 
but we had not. Our meagre repast did not contribute to 
warm our blood, and we were starting at daybreak, shiver- 
ing with cold, when we saw coming up to the carriage a 
young sub-commissary, looking very spruce, covered with 
gold lace, with a charming face and a great air of fashion. 
Contrasting with all this elegance was an enormous loaf of 
bread, with a hole in the middle, through which M. Solikoff 
(that was his name) had put his arm. After respectfully 
greeting the Marshal, he turned to me, and presenting the 
loaf to me, said : 

" It is all I am able to offer you, madame la duchesse, as 
a poor compensation for the privations which you must 
have suffered in this place, from which I was absent yes- 
terday. I shall find it very difficult to console myself for 
the inhospitality of which the Marshal and you have been 
the victims in a spot where I am supposed to exercise some 
authority." 

We thanked him as much as one can do when the north 
wind is cutting one in two. He bowed to us with an air of 
great emotion. ... I never saw this young man again, but 
later I met his brother in Paris. . . . He asked to be intro- 
duced to me, and I was happy to be able to tell him that I 
had not forgotten that loaf of bread which had been offered 
with such kindly grace and devotion. It was, as a matter 
of fact, a great help to us, and lasted us until we reached 
Konigsberg on the evening of the same day. 

Here we were, in a large and handsome hotel, in the 
centre of a capital. We thought we should now, by taking 



MARSHAL OUDINOT 205 

a few days' repose, be able to assure our welfare. Vain 
hope! The Marshal suffered considerably; I found him 
irritated ; I feared he was feverish, and was anxious that 
he should have calm and silence ; but I foresaw some mis- 
hap. He was occupying a huge room, and the dinner-table 
was laid before his bed. During the meal he endeavoured 
to distract his attention from the clamour which he heard in 
the next room ; but it became so great that he asked Mr 
Jacqueminot to go and find out what was happening. The 
latter returned with a gloomy face, and without categori- 
cally explaining himself, tried to prepare my husband for 
the indefinite prolongation of the noise in question. Not 
caring to be further enlightened, the Marshal dismissed us 
and sank back into his pillows. ... I never learnt whether 
he slept. If he guessed the nature of the toasts which 
twenty or thirty Prussians in the next room were drinking 
to our disasters, he must have suffered cruel nightmares. 
I never ventured to ask him. 

These inhabitants of Konigsberg were under all the 
effervescence of the first news that had reached them. 
They knew of the Emperor's departure and of all that 
followed. They had just begun their celebration when 
they were asked to moderate their cheering out of con- 
sideration for a wounded French general officer who had 
just arrived at the hotel. I do not know whether your 
father's name was mentioned; but they took no notice of 
the request, which even seemed to redouble their ardour. 
This savage conduct is an isolated instance in the Mar- 
shal's life. Among his enemies, as well as among his 



2c6 MEMOIRS OF 

friends, he was always an object of regard and delicate 
consideration. 

From Konigsberg onwards we had recourse to the post, 
and we arrived at Brandenburg on the evening of the 17th 
of Decennber. Before reaching Dantzig, our next halting- 
place, the Marshal wished to warm himself at Elbing. We 
had scarcely alighted at a hotel, which I can still picture in 
my mind, and where the door was opened to us with some- 
what bad grace, when we received a visit from General, 
then Colonel, Farine, who was in command there, and who 
told us that he had all the difficulty in the world in pre- 
serving our military position, so hostile had Prussia become 
to us. 

Proofs of the miseries of the retreat had already dis- 
played themselves. The hospitals were crowded with 
sick, for the greatest part suff"ering from typhus. Poor 
General Pajol arrived a few hours after we had left, and 
he, who had so brilliantly endured both his wounds and 
his fatigues during this terrible campaign, was attacked 
by the reigning epidemic, and so severely that he would 
infallibly have succumbed if a French doctor had not 
devoted himself to him and fed and covered him with 
quinine. He powdered his body with it unceasingly, and 
saved him with the aid of this supreme remedy. But this 
treatment was not within reach of the generality of suf- 
ferers, who died in numbers of the contagion. 

General Rapp, who was in command at Dantzig when 
we arrived there, had left this important position, by order 
of the Emperor, to go and fight in Russia. He had come 



MARSHAL OUDINOT 207 

back no less energetic and devoted than he had gone out, 
but broken down with fatigue and with both ears frozen. 
He had preceded us by a few days, on going to resume his 
command, and had declared to the Marshal, when he met 
him, that he would get a lodging ready for him, and would 
force him, in spite of himself, to take his rest for some 
time within the ramparts under his command. Excellent 
man ! what an amount of care and kindness he lavished 



upon us 



It was impossible to refuse the lavish and at the same 
time delicate hospitality of this generous heart. The 
General's position at Dantzig was that of a sort of vice- 
roy. But while able long to enjoy the advantages of this 
position, he was none the less able valiantly to defend it 
in the bad days that followed. 

Our stay gave time to a number of refugees from the 
great rout to catch us up in this fortress, where all of 
them, feeling themselves in a place of safety, seized a 
longer or shorter period of rest ; and soon, as at Wilna, 
the Marshal's rooms became at once a head-quarters and 
a sort of ambulance where everyone arrived with his 
wounds, mental or physical. 

One of the first who followed us to Dantzig was General 
Maison. Unfortunately he was not accompanied by his 
Chief of Staff, General de Lorencez, who had been left be- 
hind on the road, ill. His condition, when General Maison 
left him, had not yet attained the serious stage which it 
reached later. Nevertheless, the news saddened us greatly. 

After a week's stay, we took a very affectionate leave of 



2o8 MEMOIRS OF 

General Rapp, whom I was delighted to meet again later 
in France, and with whom we kept up excellent relations. 
I will abridge the details of our journey from Dantzig to 
Berlin, because the interest of a journey diminishes to- 
gether with its danger. The temperature had become 
milder, and the snow, partly thawed, allowed us to catch 
glimpses of a landscape which was said to be rather pretty, 
although it was not possible to judge of it at the time. 
M. Jacqueminot, who acted as our advance-guard, had 
begun the journey in a sleigh, being unable as yet to ride 
his horse, he said. When the snow began to fail him, he 
nevertheless persisted in the use of his vehicle, to which 
he clung in spite of the thaw. 

On the 31st of December, we slept at Zehden, on the 
banks of the Oder, which we had to cross the next morn- 
ing, at break of day. There was no bridge, and the ferry 
was the ordinary means of crossing ; but this was rendered 
impossible by the ice. On the other hand, they said that 
the ice was not strong enough to venture upon. It was a 
serious predicament. " Wait," said the inhabitants ; " in 
a few days the ice will break and allow the ferry to work. 
This proposal had not the slightest success with the Mar- 
shal, who ordered the postillions to drive on. In a heavy 
carriage with six horses we undertook this terrible passage 
over the cracking ice, which seemed to give way beneath us. 
Again the fate of the second carriage increased my alarm. 
"Even if we escape." I thought, " we shall certainly have 
shaken the ice in such a manner as to double the danger 
of those behind." God watched over us yet once more 



MARSHAL OUDINOT 



209 



and at last, on the ist of January 1813, we entered Berlin. 
We alighted, at five o'clock in the evening, at the Hotel 
de Russie in the Unter den Linden. There, as a New- 
Year's surprise, we found the famous and ominous 29th 
Bulletin of the Grande Armee, which had crushed all 
France. 

The Marshal, who, as you know, would have liked to 
keep to himself the secret of our disasters, was dismayed 
and confounded on reading this bulletin, and, turning to 
us, expressed in energetic and eloquent gestures that there 
was nothing more to be done. The cup was rendered still 
more bitter to my husband because of the place in which 
we were made to drain it. Berlin, in which we had twice 
reigned, Berlin reading these deplorable avowals with us 
became really hateful to us. Nevertheless, the kindness of 
its Sovereign was not withheld from us during the short 
time which we were obliged to spend there. From Potsdam, 
where he was still staying, he sent his brother-in-law, 
Prince Radziwill, to enquire after my husband's state of 
health. 

It was at Berlin that I for the last time saw the Comte 
Louis de Narbonne. He had undergone all the miseries 
of the retreat from Moscow without losing, in appear- 
ance at any rate, his graceful and communicative gaiety. 
Nevertheless, the courageous old man's features bore the 
impress of his fatigues and privations. 

Before leaving, we were joined by Victor, accompanied 
by M. de Thermes, with whom he had travelled from 
Wilna. They had, they told us, mutually saved each 



2IO MEMOIRS OF 

other's noses by throwing handfuls of snow at one an- 
other's faces when the dull, pallor caused by the frost had 
threatened danger to that organ. 

At Leipzig, M, Jacqueminot had prepared our lodg- 
ing in one of the finest hotels I have ever seen. We 
arrived early, and if the weather had not been so wretched, 
I should have liked to go over the town. Victor, how- 
ever, who, if not more inclined for sight-seeing, was more 
weather-proof than I, went out at once and did not return 
before night. He had not only inspected the public 
monuments, but also the more notable shops, which were 
full of English products, which were almost unknown to our 
young generation, and he brought me back a charming 
specimen of his discoveries. It was a muslin gown of the 
most marvellously fine network. The pattern was fluted, 
very rich, and in perfect taste. I was touched to the 
heart by this present bought with the savings of his 
pay as a Lieutenant in the Imperial Guard. But there 
was one still more satisfied than I, and that was }'Our 
father. 

Before our return to civilized climes, I had taken no heed 
of our respective costumes, and it was only just about this 
time that I commenced to examine them. They were 
pitiful to look upon : we were really in rags and tatters. 
I shall always remember how I first made this discovery. 
It was a fine, sunny, winter's morning. The Marshal, who 
was beginning to walk a little about his room, wanted to 
try the air outside, and leaning on Victor's arm, he slowly 
climbed a little slope. He was dressed in a dark-brown 



MARSHAL OUDINOT 211 

fur coat, with, on his head, a black astrakhan cap, dragged 
down over his ears ; and he would have reminded me of a 
tame bear, if his legs had not been encased in a certain 
pair of boots, well lined with fur, but presenting to the out- 
side view nothing save a blue and white striped ticking 
(the ticking of a feather-bed). These two striped legs 
emerging from under the fur coat had an indescribable 
effect. My uncle, when one did not look at him closely, 
had a brigand air which made me shed tears with laughter. 
My own fur pelisse was hanging down in rags. 

As to our servants, they were frightful to look at. Their 
poor faces, especially Pils' and the cook's, still bore the 
traces of the frosts which they had faced on the box-seat 
of the carriage. 

We slept successively at Weimar, Eisenach, Fuld, 
Hanau, and, at last, at Mayence, where we were all 
the more pleased to stay because at that time it 
was in France. We alighted at the Hotel des Trois- 
Couronnes. Soon arrived good old Marshal Kellermann, 
with his suite of aides-de-camp, all his contemporaries. 
A number of visits followed, and M. de Bourcet sat 
down to the piano and sang ! You can imagine how 
pleasant and sweet for us was this first return to civiliza- 
tion, this first sign of security. With what delight poor 
Dr. Campiomont enjoyed the good cheer of the Hotel des 
Trois-Couronnes : ever since Wilna, he had been tormented 
by the craving which so often follows upon dysentery, and 
had suffered more than any of us from the privations of the 
journey. At the moment when the Marshal was about to 



212 MEMOIRS OF 

go to sleep, he was brought the password for the night : 
" Beresina, Reggio," a compliment of good Marshal Keller- 
mann's, which proved the justice of his opinion of him who 
had saved the remnants of our army. 

From Mayence we went on to Homburg, and from 
there to Metz. Our friend Gouy hastened to our hotel. 
At sight of him, my husband displayed a delight and 
happiness which did everybody good to see. 

At last I returned to Bar, after a very melancholy 
absence of four months. Assuredly, bringing back my 
husband almost restored to health ; seeing once more 
my mother, who was awaiting me at my sister's ; and 
restoring my uncle safe and sound to his family, I owed 
endless thanks to God, and I offered them from the very 
bottom of my heart. 

Need I say that we were received with open arms ? We 
divided our winter life between Bar and Jeand'heurs. It 
was cold wherever we went; but what was this temperature 
to us, compared to what we had lately gone through .'* Be- 
sides, we had not the slightest inclination to give our guests, 
who arrived from every side, an idea of what we had 
suffered from the temperature. 

While your father was gradually completing his re- 
covery, I began to pay my tribute, in the shape of an 
internal inflammation, to whose progress I refused to 
listen. Mme. de Lorencez, whom we found quite re- 
covered, and carrying in her arms her little Victorine, 
set out to go and meet her husband, who was at last 
returning to France, having got over the serious illness 



MARSH JL OUDINOT 213 

•which had overtaken him on the road. They came back 
so radiant with happiness that it was a delight to see. 

While we were all seeking repose after our own fashion, 
the Emperor was very differently employed. The French 
Public at last began to understand the reason for the truth- 
ful and crushing confession contained in the 29th Bulletin. 
Was it not necessary, in fact, to avow every loss and every 
disaster, so as to be entitled to demand every assistance .'' 
And must not our country, which seemed exhausted by 
the Russian war, attempt a new effort in order to face 
the Leipzig campaign ^ Assisted by England, the war 
in Spain was devouring us on the south, while Russia, 
now openly supported by Prussia, was advancing towards 
the Oder, where the Viceroy had succeeded in reconstruct- 
ing a corps of about forty thousand men, the valiant 
remains of the Grande Armee. 



CHAPTER VI 



Journey to Paris — Illness of the Duchesse tie Reggio — The duchess is pre- 
sented at Court — The Emperor — Marie Louise — Presentation to the 
Empress Mother — The Empress Josephine — Queen Hortense — Return 
to Bar-le-Duc — The Chevalier de Boufflers — The Campaign of 1813 — 
Oudinot's important share in the Battle of Bautzen — He is placed at the 
head of the army destined to operate against Berlin — His objection to 
this movement, which he considers impracticable — He accepts from a 
sense of duty — He finds it impossible to concentrate his forces, and 
receives a check at Gross-Beeren — Part played by Oudinot at Dennewitz 
— His energy at Leipzig — He protects the retreat — He is attacked by 
typhus — Brought back to Bar in imminent danger of death — The first 
preparations for the French Campaign. 



The Emperor's measures advanced with such rapidity 
that it was hoped we should be able to enter into campaign 
in the course of Api-il. In the middle of ]\Iarch, the 
Marshal desired without further delay to go and show the 
Emperor that he was in a fit condition to resume active 
service. 

My mother had gone before to await us at Vitry, where 
the Marshal, my sister and I arrived with the intention of 
spending a day with her. We knew that Enguerrand de 
Coucy had left Saint-Cyr with the grade of sub-lieutenant, 
but we were far from suspecting that, before being able to 
reach Hancourt, he had fallen ill at my mother's. We 
found all his relations in despair , . . But he was quite 
conscious, and wished to see us . . . The poor child 
showed us his epaulet, which he hid under his bolster so 



MEMOIRS OF MARSHAL OUDINOT 215 

that it might not leave him, and bade us ate revoir in a way 
that broke my heart . . . The death of this young man, 
who was a great favourite of the Marshal's, was a deep-felt 
blow to all of us . . . 

I myself was very ill, and it was under melancholy 
auspices that I made my first journey to Paris, which we 
entered the next day through the Faubourg Saint-Martin. 

It was about four o'clock in the evening when we arrived; 
an icy rain obscured my view of the streets in what was at 
that time one of the dreariest quarters of the town. The 
faces, all new to me, of the servants attached to my 
husband's town-house looked to me like phantoms seen 
in my fever. I passed a bad night,, and in the morning 
my distressed husband and sister sent to fetch the most 
famous doctors. Victor undertook the errand, and soon I 
was visited by Drs. Dubois and Roux. The inflammation 
from which I was suffering had reached its climax, and 
the two heads of their profession agreed that I should be 
ordered continual baths. 

I spent in this way almost the whole of the first few 
days after my arrival. I was young and strong, and when 
my illness was once mastered, my convalescence proceeded 
quickly. It was well it did so, for our stay was necessarily 
limited owing to the new command which was beii^ 
prepared for the Marshal. 

Nothing was spoken of but war, a melancholy 
for a convalescent patient ; but I had to dominr 
to be able to cope with the present, which was sc 
with the future, which was so deeply laden ^ 



2i6 MEMOIRS OF 

While still on my bed of sickness I received a visit from 
the Mar^chale Augereau, Duchesse de Castiglione. The 
beautiful Adele was just as charming, no more and no less, 
in all her luxurious finery as in the simple dress to which 
she had lent so much elegance at Vitry. We talked at 
length of our young past, of our brilliant future and of 
the present, and she gave me much inform.ation which 
the similarity of our positions caused to be very useful 
to me. 

So soon as I had recovered part of my strength, my 
husband made me visit some of the marvels of Paris. I 
was astonished at all I saw; but although my youth 
inclined me to be delighted with everything, this visit was 
disturbed by many sad preoccupations. 

In order to save my strength, the Marshal asked and 
obtained leave for both my presentations at the Tuileries 
to take place on the same day. The Duchesse de Bassano 
was to present me, and I went to fetch her in my carriage. 
Tall, beautiful and cold, the duchess overawed me, and 
her kindness to me, which was natural owing to our intimate 
relations with her husband, helped me but little; for, accus- 
tomed gradually to the lofty situation she occupied, she 
had either never experienced, or had long ago forgotten, 

^ agony of timidity. 

^ust be granted that mine was very permissible under 

mstances. In fact, when I reflected that this great 

goria which had so filled my imagination was 

realized ; that I was about to sec and hear the 

d that I should have to reply to him, I quite 



MARSHAL OUDINOT 217 

lost my head. I could not understand my companion's 
calmness ; she examined me tranquilly, without thinking 
that we were approaching the Tuileries, where we soon 
arrived. The Emperor was at mass. We naturally waited 
for his return, but I cannot remember in which room : I 
took so little stock of my surroundings that during all the 
fifteen years of the Restoration I have looked for it in 
vain. 

We sat down amid a number of people, and as any one 
presented for the first time is always an object of curiosity, 
I was much stared at. But nothing could increase my dis- 
tress. I was absorbed by a single thought, and all the rest 
was but confusion. Everything seemed in a whirl in that 
salon, I felt ready to faint, and I turned so pale that one 
of the principal officers of the Emperor's household (the 
Comte de Canouville, who was on duty that day) came and 
offered me a glass of malaga and a biscuit. I refused, 
with thanks, and almost at the same moment a significant 
tumult roused me from my lethargy. We all rose, and the 
Emperor rapidly crossed the room in which we were. 

The door was scarcely closed behind him when it opened 
again and our names were called out. I followed the 
Duchesse de Bassano and we entered the closet in which 
the Emperor was awaiting us. He took a step in our 
direction, and nodding rather than bowing, said : 

" Good-day, Madame la Duchesse de Bassano." 

Then turning to me,, he gave me the same nod, and with- 
out changing his form of speech or his tone, said : 

" Good-day, Madame la Duchesse de Reggio." 
15 



2i8 MEMOIRS OF 

I courtesied, for by this time I had recovered my wits. 
After a second's pause, the Emperor enquired after the 
Marshal, and then said : 

" You are an old married woman, madame." 

He followed these words with an arch smile, which lit up 
his face like a ray. I replied that indeed I had been 
married fifteen months, but that circumstances had until 
then prevented my presentation. 

" I know," replied the Emperor, seriously, but with a 
shade of interest. " You have made a long journey, and," 
he added, earnestly, "a very cold one." 

I bowed ; he waited a moment, and then said : 

"You come from Champagne." 

When I had replied, he again asked after my husband, 
and turning towards my companion, he talked to her, I 
believe, of her children ; he then bowed to us both and 
gave us the signal to leave. 

It was thought that the Emperor had received me very 
well. This was my impression too. It remained on my 
mind, and the remembrance of this short interview will 
never be effaced from it. I can still hear his voice and see 
that deep blue eye which one could no more look into than 
one can look into the sun, but which one felt was there, 
while instinctively and for all time realizing its power. 

This was my only interview with the Emperor. You can 
understand that everything must seem insipid to me after 
this reception ; and I faced without any great emotion the 
brilliant circle of the Empress Marie Louise and the 
inquisitive gaze of her ladies. The Empress, tall, stiff, shy, 



MARSHAL OUDINOT 219 

and very thin, came forward a step to meet us. She had 
learnt that my health had suffered seriously, and she 
addressed to me on this subject a few questions which were 
kindly worded, if insignificant in tone. This lasted two 
or three minutes, and my duties were over for that day. I 
found your father awaiting me impatiently ; he was satisfied 
with the account I gave him, and according to custom, we 
went the same morning to thank the Empress's Mistress of 
the Robes. This was the Comtesse de Montebello. She 
seemed to me to be worn out with her duties : that is all I 
remember of my visit. 

A week later, the Marshal was invited alone to the 
Empress's circle. He either did not go, or else only just 
showed himself; and while I am on this subject, I will 
anticipate two months and finish it. Your father was 
walking by the Emperor's side, in the environs of Dresden, 
when the latter suddenly asked after me. 

" Sire," replied the Marshal, " I did not think Your 
Majesty remembered I had a wife." 

"What do you mean?" asked the Emperor, sharply. 

"Why, Sire, she was presented to you and to the 
Empress, and Her Majesty has never invited her to her 
circle, I was very much hurt, because her rank entitles 
her to it." 

" Why don't you make me responsible for all the blunders 
of a Mistress of the Robes?" said the Emperor. "Look 
here, would you like your wife to have a place at the 
Empress's Court? This will prove to you, I hope, that I 
have not forgotten the Duchesse de Reggio." 



220 MEMOIRS OF 

The Marshal thanked Iti'iti, and soon events took upon 
themselves to solve this question. I return to Paris, to 
conclude the story of my other presentations. 

I first went to the Emperor's mother, who was visited, by 
her son's desire, with the most formal ceremony. She was 
very kind and obliging in the reception she gave me. I 
was next taken to Queen Julie, at the Petit Luxembourg, 
a kind and simple-minded princess, who endured, rather 
than sought, her momentary greatness. For that matter, 
she had only for a little while occupied the throne of 
Spain, where her husband, King Joseph, had enjoyed a 
short reign. 

The other Sovereigns belonging to the Emperor's family 
were absent from Paris ; but there remained a duty for me 
to fulfil at Malmaison, and it was with pleasant anticipa- 
tions that I set out for there one morning with my husband, 
who had reserved to himself the exclusive right of present- 
ing me to the Empress Josephine. 

The graciousness of her reception even surpassed my 
expectations. After making me sit down on the sofa by 
her side, she addressed to me that crowd of affectionate 
and obliging questions which the sight of a young and shy 
woman can suggest to a kind heart. She held in her hand 
a spray of white camellias, fresh from her magnificent hot- 
houses. She handed it to me with infinite grace. I was 
touched, and half rose to receive it, and the Marshal, who 
followed all my movements with his eyes, told me after- 
wards that he was contented with the manner in which I 
had gone through this little piece of pantomime. 



MARSHAL OUDINOT 221 

" Have you been presented ? " asked Josephine ; and I 
felt that I turned red as I answered : 

" Yes, Madame." 

" To the Emperor and to . . . the Empress ? " she 
resumed. 

And I felt that I blushed still more foolishly as I replied 
to this last question with a second, " Yes, Madame." 

Soon after, the Empress rose and went over to the 
Marshal, who was talking at the further end of the drawing- 
room. She had not seen him for two years. He compli- 
mented her on her air of good health. 

" Yes," she replied, in a voice of gentle resignation, and 
with a sad smile ; " you see it agrees better with me not to 
be the reigning Empress," 

She asked us to dinner on the following Sunday, and I 
then for the first time met her daughter, Queen Hortense, 
who placed me next to her at table and captivated me with 
the very special charm of her conversation. 

" Tell me," she said, " all about your marriage ; I have 
always heard that the circumstances were particularly 
interesting." 

From what she told me, I saw that her informants had 
made up, out of a few truths and a number of fables, quite 
a little drama. I told her the facts of the case, to which 
she listened with marked good-will. The dinner seemed 
very quickly over. 

The Marshal next took me to pay a number of 
calls. We dined with some of the ministers, and notably 
with the Comte Regnaud de Saint-Jean d'Angely. This 



222 MEMOIRS OF 

was one of my happiest days. My sister was among 
the guests ; we met at the table of one of her husband's 
truest friends ; and I also renewed my acquaintance 
with Aglae and Blanche Buffaut, the Minister's favourite 
nieces. 

Meantime the days were slipping by, and we had little 
more than a week to spend in Paris before the Marshal's 
departure for the campaign which was about to open. He 
had received the command of the 12th Corps of the Grande 
Armee ; and while I was looking forward with dread to the 
period of agitation which was about to set in, two pieces of 
bad news came to add to the sadness of the last days of 
our stay. The first was the death of Enguerrand de Coucy. 
I have told you enough of this young man, the hope of our 
family, to make you appreciate the grief which my sister, 
my husband and I experienced at this loss. The second 
catastrophe also had its bitterness in another way. This 
was the burning of our house at Bar-le-Duc, which, although 
only just finished, and furnished with the greatest elegance, 
was reduced to ashes. 

M. and Mme. de Lorencez were with us in Paris, but 
they had left their little daughter at Bar, and it was in con- 
sequence of tlie carelessness of the nurse that the fire had 
broken out in a room on the second floor which she occu- 
pied. What I most particularly regretted in this dis- 
aster was the superb collection of linen with which the 
Marshal had presented me on my arrival at the house. He 
had had made in Holland all that the country could pro- 
duce of the very finest linen. I heard afterwards that 



MARSHAL OUDINOT 223 

there were discovered in cinders whole piles of napkins 
which retained their folds until blown upon. 

When the Emperor heard of this disaster, he at once 
sent the Marshal 100,000 francs from his privy purse ; but 
gracious though this act of spontaneous generosity was, it 
only made up a part of our losses. Our charming house 
was quickly, but not so well, rebuilt. It was only re- 
furnished in part ; but what was this compared to the 
reverses of fortune which followed .'' 

We returned to Jeand'heurs, where I took up my residence. 
The Marshal there took leave of me, and recommended me 
to go often to Bar in order to survey the building-operations. 
Our separation was somewhat softened for me by a consol- 
ing hope which I entertained ; but soon this vanished, after 
a series of cruel sufferings, and again I thought that I was 
destined never to see myself again in my children. 

Meanwhile the campaign had opened brilliantly with the 
victory of Lutzen. I rejoiced in it, as a Frenchwoman, with- 
out having any fears on my own account, since the Marshal 
had not arrived in time to take part in the action. For the 
moment I was moving to and fro between Jeand'heurs and 
Bar, suffering in body and mind, in spite of the precious 
cares lavished upon me by my mother, the members of my 
family who succeeded one another by my side, many old 
friends, and some of more recent date. Among the latter 
I may mention M. and Mme. de Saint- Aulaire. 

The Comte de Saint-Aulaire had replaced M. le Comte 
Leclerc as Prefect of the Meuse. Although belonging to 
the Ancien Regime, he had frankly attached himself to the 



224 MEMOIRS OF 

government of the Emperor, and had become a chamber- 
lain of Marie Louise. His first appearance in pubHc hfe 
dates from the Meuse, where his memory still lives. He 
was the widower of a Princess connected with the Danish 
Royal Family, and the father of a little girl of twelve, -who 
since became the Duchesse Decazes. His second wife, 7iee 
Mile, du Roure, was twenty-one years of age, and one of 
the prettiest and wittiest persons of her time. This delight- 
ful household soon won my heart, and in spite of the 
divergence in some of our ideas and in our political positions, 
we remained friends. They brought to Jeand'heurs the 
only movement which I allowed to be summoned there ; 
but to tell the truth, nothing was able to divert my thoughts 
for long from the fixed idea that filled them. 

The Marshal, who regretfully learnt of the bad state of 
my health, agreed with my doctor that I should be sent to 
Plombieres, At the end of my season there I made the 
acquaintance of some people of a wcry different kind. I 
had often observed the friendly looks which a whole family 
had bestowed upon me at each of our frequent meetings. 
This family consisted of the old Chevalier de Bou filers, 
famous for his literary productions and for his eminently 
witty and graceful conversation, of the Marquise dc Sabran, 
whom he had married, and of her son Elzear, whom he had, 
as it were, adopted. The latter was an elegant poet whom 
you will remember meeting as children. 

I had confined myself almost entirely to my reading as 
a girl, and only knew of these gentlemen's celebrity by 
hearsay, I had never met any authors of whatever kind, 



MARSHAL OUDINOT 225 

and I felt a sort of elation, mingled with timidity, when one 
morning the amiable trio sent up their names to me. 

" We have come to bring you a visit of gratitude," said 
the sympathetic old man, as he entered the room ; " we 
wanted to meet you, and I do not know why we delayed 
our visit until to-day." 

Touched with these words, and with the physiognomy of 
my three callers, I felt drawn towards them. The Chevalier 
de Boufflers continued : 

" It is to your husband, madame, that we owe the liberty 
of Elzear. He is an intimate friend of Mme. de Stael's, and 
he redoubled the signs of his attachment during her exile. 
This was falsely interpreted into being of political import, 
and he was imprisoned at Vincennes. His mother grew 
more distressed the longer his captivity lasted, until God 
sent me an inspiration, and without knowing Marshal 
Oudinot, except by reputation, and with no other claim 
upon him than our unhappiness, I succeeded in obtaining 
from him so ardent and immediate a support, that Elzear 
was restored to us. I have not yet been able to assure the 
Marshal verbally of our gratitude ; I am impatiently await- 
ing the opportunity to do so : but meanwhile I bless that 
which has brought us into contact with his young wife." 

I left Plombieres improved in health but quite prepared 
to resume the condition of alarm which had been tem- 
porarily suspended by the armistice. I picked up dear 
little Stephanie at Nancy, and soon after our arrival at 
Jeand'heurs our dear Auguste came home for the holidays : 
he was then thirteen. General de Lorencez had settled his 



226 MEMOIRS OF 

wife in his place at Marbot, near Bar, before taking com- 
mand of his division in the Grande Armee. Soon he 
received a grievous wound, and one of the painfullest 
moments in that fatal summer of 1813 was that in which 
I had to announce this sorrowful news to my daughter-in- 
law. 

Meanwhile, the campaign of 1813 began. For 
the last time, our armies, already disorganized, were 
able to fight outside the old French soil. In spite 
of the treachery and desertion of some, in spite 
of the ill-will of others, in spite of the lassitude and 
disillusion of all, amid the universal disorder of men 
and things, Oudinot was one of a small number 
who never faltered, who uttered neither criticisms 
nor recriminations, and whose clear acceptation of 
their duties was never sullied with the smallest 
doubt. The patriot of 1792 was as he had been 
twenty years before, devoted, ardent, and un- 
flinching. 

Placed at the head of the 12th Corps, he went to 
take up his command at Bamberg, in Bavaria ; and 
so soon as the victory of Lutzen (2 May) had made 
Napoleon master of the country between the Saale 
and the Elbe, the Marshal, co-operating in the move- 
ment of concentration of the French forces, skirted 
the foot of the Bohemian mountains, and on the loth 



MARSHAL OUDINOT 227 

reached the great rallying place at Dresden. They 
crossed the stream of the Elbe, behind which the 
coalesced Russians and Prussians were sheltering 
themselves, and advanced into the middle of Saxony, 
towards the upper valley of the Spree, which issues 
from the mountains in that region, and near which 
the enemy occupied a very strong position. The 
Due de Reggio led the right. 

At mid-day on the 20th of May, he received 
orders to cross the Spree above the village of 
Bautzen, near Sinkwitz. Two of his infantry co- 
lumns forded the river, scaled the opposite bank, 
which is very steep, and found themselves facing 
the Russians commanded by the same Wittgenstein 
who had been Oudinot's implacable adversary, the 
year before, upon the Dwina. Assailed without 
delay, they held firm, and gave the rest of the army 
time to arrive in its turn and, in spite of a very brisk 
fire, to take up an important position on the Tron- 
berg. Macdonald, Marmont and Bertrand had also 
succeeded in crossing the Spree at other points, and 
by evening all were able to encamp- upon the con- 
quered bank. 

But the Russians nevertheless preserved a very 
strong second line, stronger even than the first, 
among mountains and valleys. They commenced 



228 MEMOIRS OF 

the attack the next morning, and Miloradowitch, 
their most brilliant general, who was known as the 
Russian Murat, made special efforts to recapture the 
Tronberg, which Oudinot had taken the night before. 
The Marshal, although suffering enormous losses, 
obliged to give way at moments, but always return- 
ing, succeeded in maintaining his position through 
sheer force of energy, until at last Ney, who had 
turned the position by re-ascending the Spree, made 
the enemy's position an impossible one. The victory 
remained with us, but unfortunately it was not a 
decisive one. 

A fortnight later, the armistice of the 4th of June 
gave everyone a hope of definite peace, and the 
honourable proposals of the Powers, which recognized 
our occupation of our natural frontiers, seemed favour- 
able to us ; but the pride of the Master was neither 
willing to yield nor to come to terms, and the 
struggle was resumed under more and more unequal 
conditions. 

The Emperor, maintaining himself in Saxony, on 
the Upper Elbe, entrusted sixty-four thousand men 
to Oudinot, with orders to march upon the Prussian 
capital and to give battle to the new King of 
Sweden, Bernadotte, who had become the adversary 
of his former brothcrs-in-arms. The Due de Reggio 



MARSHAL OUDINOT 



229 



in this way had under his orders in the first place 
the 1 2th Corps, then the 4th, commanded by General 
Bertrand, and lastly the 7th, commanded by General 
Reynier. 

The reader must have no illusion concerning this 
imposing figure of sixty-four thousand men. As a 
matter of fact, the effective strength consisted, as to 
one half, of foreign troops, Italians moved by no 
feeling of patriotism, and Saxons fighting regretfully 
against their German kinsmen. As to the French, 
these were no longer the old invincible bands whom 
the deserts of Russia and Spain had swallowed up ; 
they were brave and eager young soldiers, but inex- 
perienced and liable to be promptly discouraged. 

On the other hand, the country to be traversed 
before advancing upon Berlin from the south was as 
unfavourable as possible for manoeuvring : forests, 
rivers and marshes were interwoven in an inextricable 
net-work, in which the cannon-wheels sank deep 
into the clay, while our men exhausted themselves 
through the long circuitous roads they had to follow. 
Ground of this character, instead of facilitating the 
concentration of forces, rendered their dispersion 
almost inevitable, and the march was therefore an 
extremely dangerous one. 

Bernadotte with his Swedes, the Russians and 



230 



MEMOIRS OF 



the Prussians, the latter prepared for every effort 
in order to cover their capital, was at the head of 
ninety thousand soldiers ; our men therefore had to 
fieht two acrainst three. 

Oudinot had represented to Napoleon all the 
difficulties arising from the lack of cohesion in the 
troops, their numerical inferiority, the nature of the 
ground, and also that adventurous position, so far 
removed from the main army and from the base of 
operations, which w^as Dresden. But he ran foul of 
a mind which was absolutely made up ; the Emperor 
refused to entertain his objections, and relied greatly 
upon the moral effect which would result, he said, 
from the occupation of Berlin. Oudinot made 
no reply, and accepted with much self-denial the 
accomplishment of his difficult task, whose unfor- 
tunate result he all too well foresaw. 

On the 2 1 St of August, the little town of Trebbin 
was captured in spite of the resistance of the Prussians, 
and the next day the army continued its uncertain 
march through those thickets, marshes and forests. 
They marched in three columns, Bertrand on the 
right, Reynier in the centre, and Oudinot on the left. 
On the 23rd, the Marshal gave both his lieutenants 
the order to converge upon the village of Gross- 
Beeren, and there to await his arrival, so that. the three 



MARSHAL OUDINOr 231 

united corps might all together attack Bernadotte, 
who occupied near there the position of Ruhlsdorff. 
These instructions having been clearly laid down, 
Bertrand advanced on the right by Blankensfeld, 
Reynier in the centre, and Oudinot himself on the 
left by Arensdorff 

Unfortunately, the desired accord, so necessary 
for this combination, which was a very wise one, 
was not realized. Bertrand, harassed by the 
Prussian corps under Tauenzien, was delayed by 
a fruitless cannonade which he kept up against 
the latter. Reynier, who was the first to debouch 
at Gross-Beeren, which is only thirty kilometres 
from Berlin, there met Bortsell's division, and dis- 
lodged it ; but instead of halting, in accordance with 
his formal orders, he allowed himself to be drawn 
alone into pursuit of the enemy, with more courage 
than prudence, and soon found himself engaged 
against the main body of Bernadotte's forces. He 
at last saw his danger, but too late ; and although he 
retired in order, he was unable completely to rally 
his Saxon division, which disbanded and lost two 
thousand prisoners. Oudinot, warned by the sound 
of the cannon, hastened up from Arensdorff in time 
to assist the troops to keep up a bold countenance, 
but not in time to prevent the retreat. Always as 



232 MEMOIRS OF 

prudent In the conduct of an operation as he was 
impetuous under fire, he dechned to persist, and in 
order wisely to Hmit his losses, he slowly retrograded 
upon the Elbe, and entrenched himself at Wittem- 
berg on the 30th of August. The attempt upon 
Berlin had not succeeded ; but at least the army 
corps was saved. 

Napoleon, who at the time was much disappointed 
by this check, did justice later to Oudinot in his 
meditations at St Helena. 

" As to the affair at Gross-Beeren," he said, "the 
Due de Reggio managed it sufficiently well not 
to interfere with the Emperor's favourite project. 
Had the operation only been delayed, it would have 
been all the more complete. The Due de Reggio's 
attempt was useful as a military reconnaissance. It 
drew the enemy from his lines, dragged Bernadotte 
towards Wittemberg, and left open the line from 
Dresden to Berlin." 

Oudinot, considering the operation more than 
ever impracticable now that he had experimented 
with it, asked to be relieved of his command-in- 
chief, which was handed to Ney ; he himself re- 
mained at the head of the 12th Corps, and nobly 
consented to become the simple subordinate of his 
comrade-in arms. 



MARSHAL OUDINOT 233 

Not only was Ney no more fortunate, but he lost 
a much more important battle than that of Gross- 
Beeren. Rashly venturing upon a flank march in 
order to reach Baruth, which the Emperor had 
assigned to him, he divided his forces into three 
columns, which marched not in a parallel or concentric 
fashion, but one behind the other, and at a distance 
sufficiently removed to prevent them from easily 
assisting one another. Bertrand, who led the first, 
was unexpectedly attacked in the defile of Denne- 
witz, and had to sustain an unequal combat against 
the main body of the German forces. Reynier, who 
followed, succeeded with great difficulty in prevent- 
ing the Prussians from taking up a position on our 
left. Finally, Oudinot, who brought up the rear, 
employed himself in a very efficacious manner in 
stopping forty thousand Russians and Swedes, who 
were threatening to outflank us on the same side. 
But summoned very inconveniently by Ney to sup- 
port Bertrand on our right, he was compelled, owing 
to this dangerous conversion, to abandon to their 
own resources our wavering allies, the Saxons. His 
departure was for them a signal of rout and for 
the army one of defeat (6 September). This time 
the road to Berlin was definitively lost, and it was 

necessary to fall back upon the Elbe, no longer 
16 



2 34 MEMOIRS OF 

at Wittemberg, but much further, at Torgau. The 
wind and dust had raged so furiously during that 
disastrous day that the combatants had hardly been 
able to see one another. 

This check, combined with others sustained by 
several of Napoleon's lieutenants, compelled him 
to concentrate his troops, which he had dispersed 
too widely. Oudinot was summoned to take com- 
mand of two divisions of the Young Guard. He 
took part with it in the supreme battle in which 
the fate of Europe was fought out on the fields of 
Leipzig. On the 1 6th of October, at mid-day, when, 
Napoleon decided to take the offensive with the 
centre, it was Oudinot who debouched from Wachau 
with Marshal Victor, and who, with irresistible 
impetus, repulsed Prince Eugene of Wurtemberg, 
drove him back upon Awenhayn, and destroyed 
the Russian Cuirassiers, whose impetus broke 
against our lines. On the evening of the same 
day he also contributed to keeping Weissenwolff's 
Grenadiers at bay. But these were brilliant rather 
than efficacious successes, the last pale smiles of 
fortune. Two days later, during the disastrous 
Battle of the Giants, Oudinot was only able to 
stand firm between Victor and Poniatowsky. 

After the rout, it became incumbent u{)on him to 



MARSHAL OUDINOT 235 

lead the rear-guard, and to cover the retreat with 
his two divisions. After crossing the Saale, he 
heroically defended, at Freyburg, the two bridges 
over the Unstrutt, prevented General York from 
coming up, and killed some hundreds of his men 
in a stubborn fight ; he himself was the last to cross 
(22 October). On the 26th, he kept Blucher in 
check, who attacked him at Eisenach. 

His constant endeavours were directed to bringing 
up the laggards, starved and disarmed, who replied 
to their officers' reproaches : 

"We prefer to let ourselves be taken prisoners; 
we have no bread; the Cossacks will give us 
bread." 

Hard examples had not served them as a lesson. 

Bringing up the march, he found the villages 
encumbered with sick, wounded and dying ; every 
room, stable and barn was crammed with them. 
He was compelled to sleep at night outside the 
houses, in spite of the Cossacks at their backs, 
who howled ominously in the darkness : 

" To Paris ! To Paris ! " 

On the 28th he was attacked by typhus, which 
was devastating that poor remnant of the army, and 
he was unable to ride his horse. He was hoisted 
into a wretched calash and thus dragged, painfully 



236 MEMOIRS OF 

jolted, in the centre of the artillery-park, with a 
shattered body, but brave in mind and with an impas- 
sive countenance. At Hanau, on the Mein, our 
former allies, the Bavarians, who had abandoned us 
since our reverses, endeavoured with the Austrians to 
bar our retreat. He assisted in his calash at the 
battle which opened the road for us, and slept in his 
carriage, in the middle of a wood of fir-trees, with 
nothing by way of food save a little flour which a 
drummer brought him, and which was diluted in 
water. He did not know where he was, so great 
was the confusion. An officer, who knocked up 
against him without seeing him, recognized him and 
told him that the Emperor's canteen was close at 
hand ; he was then able to procure some relief 

General and Mme. de Lorencez had come to spend a 
few days with me at Jeand'heurs. It was on the 7th of 
November, in the morning, that I saw M. Jacqueminot 
return, who had been sent out to meet the Marshal. I did 
not remember until later the air of constraint and reserve 
with which he replied to the thousand questions which I put 
to him at once. He had told me to expect the Marshal the 
same evening ; I seized hold of this sole fact, and the 
young man lacked the courage to declare the whole truth 
to me. All I was able to get out of him was : 

"The Marshal is very tired and very much cliangcd." 
Then, in order to evade my further inquiries, M. Jacque- 



MARSHAL OUDINOT 237 

minot re-entered his post carriage and drove off for Paris, 
saying to me once more, from the window : 

"You will find him much altered; he will need all your 
care ; courage ! " 

The day passed with no arrival and no news. I began 
to grow alarmed, and the general did not know how to 
calm me, for M. Jacqueminot had been more explicit with 
him than with me. 

We had dined sadly, and we sat looking at the fire in 
the chimney of that big room number one, which I used 
at that time. We listened to every sound, but we heard 
nothing but the wind. . . . The general, taking pity on 
me, said : 

" Come, let us have a game of chess." 

I owed my instruction in this scientific game to my dear 
Auguste, who had taught it me during the holidays which 
he had spent with me ; but we had hardly set out our 
pieces when the sound of a whip made us all start up. 
A carriage rolled under the archway which at that time 
closed in the great court-yard. I flew through the long 
galleries and down the stairs, and reached the carriage side. 

The door was open, but nothing came out. A soft, icy 
rain was falling ; the night was dark, and the silence com- 
plete. Torches were brought, and I climbed distraught 
into the carriage, where I vaguely perceived a man 
stretched out motionless. Then two voices in tones of 
emotion spoke to me at once in an urgent and mysterious 
manner. I understood nothing more, I was really out of 
my senses. They made me alight from the carriage ; then 



238 MEMOIRS OF 

six men together took the Marshal (for, alas ! it was he 
whom I had at last recognized, but who did not recognize 
me) and carried him to his room. 

I mechanically followed the procession, and when my 
poor husband had been laid upon his bed, he opened his 
haggard eyes and distinctly spoke these words : 

" I want a bath." 

I had it got ready, and sent a carriage for Dr. Moreau. 
Soon the invalid was put into his bath ; I held his hand, 
and he seemed to recognize me for a moment, and said, 
in a voice so weak that I could hardly distinguish his 
words : 

" I feel better, but I am going to sleep." 

And at the same moment he stretched himself out and 
slipped down under the water. I called out with all my 
might ; he was taken out, but ice-cold and motionless. A 
great fire was lit, and we laid him on a mattress placed 
right inside the chimney; we rubbed his feet and hands ; 
but his features remained livid, distorted and black, and 
putrid stains appeared upon his skin. 

This was the condition of affairs when Dr. Moreau 
arrived. His brusque frankness never spared anybody ; he 
thought the Marshal lost, and took no trouble to conceal 
his thought. It would be impossible to describe what 
passed within me. . . . When I recovered from my first 
shock, I understood that the thing to do was not to despair, 
but to listen to the doctor and follow his directions. I 
clung to hope, and was alone in not weeping. 

"Madame, what have you done," said the tloctor, "and 



MARSH JL OUDINOT 239 

what induced you to put into a bath a man attacked with 
typhus ? " 

" But he asked me to," I replied. 

" Is that a reason ? You can see he is dehrious." 

And in fact, hfe had returned to him, but the fever too. 
Before long, the Marshal was volubly talking, calling him- 
self a deserter, and saying he deserved to be shot for 
leaving his post during a battle. It was the battle of 
Hanau which had left him these last impressions. 

The danger lasted five days, during which the Marshal 
sometimes recognized me, without knowing where he was ; 
more frequently he imagined himself with the army, called 
his generals to him by name, and so forth. 

At last the fever abated, and the doctor said to me, as he 
entered my room on the sixth day : 

"He is saved!" 

" How can you tell, when you have scarcely seen him, 
and before you have even felt his pulse ,-' " 

" Merely by the way he holds himself in bed, madame ; 
he has always till now lain on his back, which was an alarm- 
ing symptom ; this morning, as you see, he is sleeping on 
his side. It is the beginning of his convalescence, but it 
will be a long and stormy one ; do not relax your watching." 

From that moment he gradually grew better. His fine 
constitution had recovered all its moral force in less than a 
fortnight after his arrival. His physical strength had not 
progressed so fast, and I remember that the first time that 
he was able to walk as far as my room, where he found a 
tall cheval-glass, he looked at himself in it and said : 



240 MEMOIRS OF 

" There's an ugly beggar for you ! " 

Events followed fast. The passage of the Rhine by the 
allied armies was imminent, and the Marshal was quivering 
with impatience to go to the Emperor and show him once 
more that he was fit to resume his share in the campaign. 

The enemy crossed the Rhine on the 20th of December 
1 81 3. On receiving this news we started. We had no 
sooner left Jeand'heurs and reached the high-road between 
Saint-Dizier and Vitry than we found it already encum- 
bered with our troops. We were able to shake hands with 
Victor, who was marching in the same direction. We 
breakfasted at Vitry, which was occupied by the Imperial 
Guard, and soon arrived in Paris, where I found my mother 
in very poor health. 

Beginning with this period, one could remark in men's 
minds that general tendency towards selfishness which has 
nowadays become the almost universal rule. The enemy 
was advancing with great strides, and yet it must be ad- 
mitted that our people were more occupied with mutual 
recriminations than with preparations for the common 
defence. It was clear that the army would have to act 
alone, without the assistance of the people, which was not 
yet aroused ; and yet what should be more calculated to 
stimulate it than the heart-rending reflection that in fifteen 
months the allied armies had advanced from the banks of 
the Moscova and the Dwina to our own Rhine frontier.'' 

Meanwhile, the Paris National Guard had been restored, 
and its officers, summoned in mass to the Tuileries before 
the Emperor's departure, swore with enthusiasm that they 



MARSHAL OUDINOT 241 

would defend Paris to the death, together with the Regent 
and the King of Rome, who had been entrusted to their 
protection. And, indeed, the National Guard did, on the 
31st of March, make a fine and honourable defence. 

Marie Louise and her child were present at this scene. 
The child, who was then three years old was splendid. 
He had his father's head, and it was his presence which 
electrified the gathering much more than did the impassive 
features of the Regent. 

My husband received the command of a portion of the 
Young Guard, and he prepared closely to follow the Em- 
peror. 



CHAPTER VII 

The French campaign — Respect shown by the invaders for Oudinot's estates — 
His share in the fighting at la Rothiere — Departure of the Duchesse do 
Reggio — Victor Oudinot wounded at Craonne — Oudinot's desperate pro- 
posal to rally the French corps spread over Germany — Departure of 
Marie Louise — Capitulation of Paris — Queen Hortense at Rambouillet — 
Incidents on the Duchesse de Reggio's journey — The abdication — Oudinot 
recognizes the Bourbons — He is made a minister of State — Mme. de Staiji 
and the Comtesse Waleska at Josephine's — Visit of the Czar to Oudinot — 
Portrait of the Duchesse d'Angouleme — Oudinot a Peer of France — 
Oudinot is appointed Commandant of the Royal Grenadiers and Chas- 
seurs — His conciliatory spirit — The King waited upon by the mayors at 
the Hotel-de-Ville— Portrait of the Due de Berry — Oudinot at Metz — The 
Due de Berry in the East — His passage through Bar-le-Duc and fetes 
given in his honour at Oudinot's — M. Jacqueminot's accident — The 
Reggios return to Paris. 

I HAVE already said that the enemy passed the Rhine, 
between Basle and Coblentz, on the 20th of December 
1813. He continued his invasion by occupying Belgium 
about the ist of January following. 

To stand against the forces of allied Europe, the Emperor 
had, it was said, three hundred thousand men under arms, 
but divided as follows : about two-thirds were spread over 
our French garrisons and in the fortified places which \vere 
still in our occupation abroad ; the remainder formed three 
armies : that of Italy, that of Spain, and, lastly, that which 
was to defend the territory, which was the on))- one that 
the Emperor could really oppose to the enenn-. It con- 
sisted of about eighty thousand men, divided into small 



MEMOIRS OF MARSHAL OUDINOT 243 

corps, placed under the orders of the marshals and com- 
manded in chief by Napoleon. 

The Emperor's first operations carried him towards Saint 
Dizier. He left Paris on the 25th of December, slept at 
Chalons, and the next day at Vitry, where the Marshal 
was awaiting him. The Marshal stayed with my mother. 
How happy she was to surround him with her cares ! 
Together with my mother and my aunt the canoness, he 
spent his last family evening during that disastrous winter. 
On the 27th took place at Saint-Dizier the first skirmish 
with the enemy, whom the Emperor easily dislodged. 
Your father, who was at that moment in command of two 
divisions of the Young Guard, was carried forward, and 
thus came fighting, as a scout, right up to the gates of 
his native town. When they saw him approach, the in- 
habitants of Bar, regarding the names of Oudinot and 
Victory as synonymous, thought themselves saved ; but, 
recalled by the Emperor in the direction of Brienne, the 
Marshal was compelled to leave at once and to put a stop 
to this illusion. 

I should here tell you, my children, that the majority of 
the foreign generals who, in the course of this campaign, 
succeeded one another in the neighbourhood of Jeand'heurs 
and Bar, set safeguards upon your father's estates, a just 
and honourable acknowledgment of his conduct in the 
enemy's country. 

Meantime the army commanded by the Emperor reached 
Brienne on the 29th, and captured the castle and the town 
after a murderous combat, lit up till midnight by the flames 



2 44 MEMOIRS OF 

of some burning houses. They fought at the point of the 
bayonet ; the ground was strewn with dead and dying ; 
your father, escaping his usual kick, was not wounded. 

The Emperor and his Heutenants did not sleep in the 
castle, which had become a field of carnage, but hurriedly 
partook of an improvised repast, during which the Marshal 
received a message that two ladies, declaring themselves 
his relations, had been discovered in tears in the vaults. 
" Bring them here and let them share my supper," said the 
Emperor. Thereupon appeared two of my cousins, Mmes. 
de Montangon and du Metz. The latter, who had just 
been married, was as beautiful as an angel; their husbands 
were absent from the Chateau de Crespy, situated at a 
league from Brienne, when public rumour forewarned them 
of the fighting which was about to commence. Thinking 
they would be in greater safety in the vast establishment 
at Brienne than in their little stronghold, they hastened to 
take refuge there, but had hardly time to instal them- 
selves in the vaults before the terrible shock took place 
over their heads. Not only my husband, but also the Em- 
peror, was full of kindness towards these young refugees, 
of whom one, Mme. du Metz, paid with her life, not long 
after, for this terrible experience. 

Before going further, a word on the heroic share taken 
by your father in the combat at la Rothiere. It was on 
the 31st of December; the Marshal drove back the enemy, 
in a hand-to-hand fight, at night, under a terrific fire, cap- 
tured the village, and fell back in good order upon Brienne, 
having thus marked his place in the history of that day, 



MARSHAL OUDINOT 245 

where thirty-two thousand men defended themselves against 
one hundred and sixty-six thousand. 

I come to events which touch me more directly. After 
the battle of la Rothiere, my husband was almost con- 
stantly opposed to the Russians or the Austrians, in de- 
fending now the banks of the Seine, and now those of the 
Aube ; on the latter he distinguished himself at Orsonval 
on the 27th of February, and was to return on the 21st 
of March to Arcis, on the same banks, and add a new jewel 
to his glorious crown ; but in the interval he was recalled 
to the Seine to hold Schwartzenberg in check. The two 
armies lay facing one another ; and during a period of 
inaction that lasted some days he sent for me : it was on 
the loth of March. 

M. Verger, the commissary-at-war, and attached to the 
Marshal's staff, was sent to come and fetch me. He 
arrived at nine in the morning, in a heavy snowstorm. 

" I have come," he said, " on behalf of the Marshal, to 
beg you to come at once to see him at Provins ; he thinks 
he will be there long enough to be able to see you for 
a few hours." 

" Well, then, send for horses, and let us go ; my carriage 
is ready, come ! " 

" One moment," he resumed ; " please first have the 
kindness to get together a few provisions. M. le Marechal 
is dying of hunger." 

I looked at him in amazement. 

" It is literally true," he said ; " remember that the most 
stubborn warfare has been devouring the same portion of 



2+6 MEMOIRS OF 

France during six weeks. It is pitiful to have to beg 
for food, even by paying for it, of a population which 
is itself deprived of it ; but, in a word, we are in need of 
everything." 

The miseries of Russia returned to my memory : to 
think that they could reign within twenty leagues of Paris 
was as sad as it was surprising. I was not able to com- 
plete the loading of my carriage until four o'clock ; the 
snow had ceased to fall ; it covered the ground ; but it 
was not thick enough to hide from my eyes the ravages of 
the battlefield through which I drove. One saw nothing 
but dismantled houses, trees cut down ; and I clearly distin- 
guished, not far from the high-road, a i&\w dead bodies 
lying where they fell, and remains of combats recently 
delivered in the plains. 

The night grew darker: M. Verger, silent and pre- 
occupied, constantly threw anxious glances to left and 
right. He seemed to have lost all his usual gentle and 
serene temperament. We travelled at a rapid rate, and 
ended by falling into that species of torpor produced by 
the movement of the carriage and the darkness. We had 
arrived at a stage (it was Nangis), and I was inwardly 
hastening the putting-to of the horses, when a man came 
running up to my carriage, and asked, in a shivering voice: 

" Is that the Duchesse de Reggio ? " 

" Yes," we replied together ; and I recognized M. de 
Bourcet, my husband's aide-de-camp. 

"You must go no further to-night, madamc la duchesse, 
M. le mar^chal, knowing that parties of Cossacks have 



MARSHAL OUDINOT 247 

been infesting the road since yesterday, sent me to meet 
you with all speed in order to make you suspend your 
journey. I don't know how I succeeded in escaping the 
Russian scouts who are spread all along the roads." 

Imagine my distress at these terrible words. It was less 
my fear of the Cossacks, whom nevertheless I had been 
seeing as in a nightmare for weeks, than the annoyance 
of missing this so strongly desired interview. 

" Do not lose courage," resumed M. de Bourcet. " Come, 
madame la marechale, and warm yourself inside the post- 
house. I will explain everything to you there." 

I was obliged to submit. It was eleven o'clock in the 
evening, and we all sat round a half-extinguished fire in the 
post-house kitchen. 

" All is not lost," said the aide-de-camp, on seeing my 
profound discouragement. " M. le marechal is expecting a 
regiment to-morrow morning which will pass through here 
to-night ; and he has recommended me to put your carriage 
into the ranks of that brave infantry. You will thus travel 
at its pace and in safety : it is only a delay of a few hours. 
Permit me, therefore, to have a bed got ready for you, 
where you will be able to sleep until the first roll of the 
drum." 

I was cheered by these words, but refused the bed, and 
remained by the fire, which had been made up. Soon 
the gentlemen began to snore, while I sat watching the 
logs and reflecting on the singularity of my position 
and the strange resemblance which it presented to that 
in which 1 had found myself nearly two years before, 



248 MEMOIRS OF 

at seven hundred leagues from Paris : and I was only 
fifteen leagues from it at present. 

We did as was arranged, leaving Nangis with the regi- 
ment. At daybreak we had six leagues to travel: they took 
us six hours. We did not meet the shadow of a Cossack. 
These irregular troops feared our infantry too much to 
attack them on the march, even when in small numbers. 

On approaching the town, the gentlemen made me 
leave the ranks to save me the spectacle of the wonder- 
ment of the town at the sight of my carriage entering 
to the beat of the drum. Soon I was able to embrace 
your father, whom I found in perfect health, in spite of 
his fatigues and his privations. He was far from con- 
sidering the Emperor's cause as lost ; he admitted the 
chance of an occupation of Paris by tlie enemy, but he 
thought that the Emperor, on crossing the Loire, would 
be able to continue sufficiently formidable to obtain ac- 
ceptable conditions and save his crown. He hoped that 
the nation, demoralized at first, would end by awaking 
from a state of apathy which, until then, had left every- 
thing to the army, and that, weary at last of undergoing 
the hardships of war, the awakening of the country would 
be like that of a lion. In a word, he still had faith in 
the future. 

My husband had smiled, not only upon seeing me, 
but at the unpacking of my carriage. I had sacked the 
shop of the famous Chevet, and soon pics, hams and fowls 
were triumphantly presented to the staff, who had been 
convoked to partake of these alms. 



MARSHAL OUDINOT 249 

" I must send for a hungry neighbour of mine as well," 
said the Marshal. " I mean Macdonald. Let us hope 
that Prince Schwartzenberg will let us dine quietly to-day." 

He did ; and five days passed in this way, during which 
the enemy held himself as dead, to the great astonish- 
ment of the army of the two marshals. This enabled me 
to prolong my stay at Provins, and I made a friend who 
remained faithful to me to the grave, in that excellent 
Marshal Macdonald, who came over from his quarters 
almost every day to share our dinner. 

You can well imagine that my rich provisions were not 
able to feed for long the many starvelings whose appetites 
had been whetted by the first meal or two; and soon I 
was able to see for myself the scarcity into which the 
Marshal was again about to fall, to my great distress. 
He enjoined upon me to follow at a distance the Govern- 
ment of the Regent, and to cross the Loire if that was 
the course taken, in which case it was arranged that I 
should go to my sister at Poitiers. 

My fifth day at Provins had hardly commenced when 

the Marshal, without waiting for the enemy to attack, 

decided upon my departure, without listening to any of 

my supplications to be allowed to stay. Prompted by 

a sort of foresight, he hurried my preparations, put M. de 

Bourcet on the box of my carriage, sent a company of 

cavalry to escort me for the first few leagues, and himself 

escorted me for half-an-hour, riding by the carriage side. 

Then, without telling me, and without taking his leave, 

he turned back, galloped off, and arrived just in time to 
17 



250 MEMOIRS OF 

hear that the enemy seemed to be preparing for a m.ove- 
ment. During this time I was being rapidly carried 
towards Paris. 

I arrived at the Rue de Bourgogne before it was quite 
dark, and I was able to distinguish in the court-yard a 
calash all covered with mud which had evidently, like 
myself, made a hurried journey. 

"Who is it ? " I asked of the concierge, excitedly. 

He hesitated before replying. 

"Well?" 

" M. le comte has come back wounded." 

M. le comte was Victor. I ran upstairs and reached the 
room in which he had been placed. He was quite calm, 
and began by reassuring me as to what had befallen him ; 
a ball, he said, had entered his thigh and penetrated rather 
deeply, but without breaking anything. He had received 
this wound at the fierce affair at Craonne, where the 
Imperial Guard had charged with its ordinar}^ impetuosity. 
So soon as I was assured that the wound was not danger- 
ous, 1 surprised in myself a feeling of satisfaction, of 
which I gave no sign, at finding that it put one of us 
in shelter from the terrible hazards of the end of this 
campaign. 

I was still with Victor, when another member of our 
family arrived in a mutilated condition. This was General 
Pajol, who had had a horse killed under him at the bridge 
of Montcreau. His fall had opened his serious Leipzig 
wounds and had obliged him to return and get nursed in 
Paris. Although badly injured, he was able to move 



MARSHAL OUDINOT 251 

about, since he had only been hurt in his hand and arm. 
The General was accompanied by his wife. 

I received no news of the Marshal. I learnt vaguely 
that he had left the Seine in order to join the Emperor on 
the Aube, where, on the 21st of March, had taken place 
the hard-fought combat of Arcis, of which I had no details. 

After Arcis, the Emperor, either because he had been 
for a moment deceived as to the march of a corps of the 
enemy (Wintzingerode's), or because he had an undefined 
idea of cutting off the allies from the line of the Rhine, had 
returned to Saint-Dizier, where he arrived on the 28th ; but 
hearing that the bulk of the army was massing upon Paris, 
he suddenly changed his plans and hastened to its assist- 
ance. It was therefore at Saint-Dizier that, resuming the 
thought of intercepting the line of the Rhine from the 
enemy, the Marshal submitted the following proposal to 
the Emperor: he asked to be charged with his unaided 
army corps, since he was not able to dispose of a greater 
force, to march upon the Rhine, taking from each of the 
fortified places he would pass on the way as many men 
and ammunitions as they could spare, without too greatly 
imperilling their safety, and to follow the same plan with 
regard to all the places which we still held beyond the 
Rhine in the direction of Vienna. This scheme, which 
undoubtedly presented immense difficulties and a great 
uncertainty as to the result, had at least the advantage of 
temporarily disconcerting the enemy and perhaps prevent- 
ing his march upon Paris, and might besides, by working 
upon the spirit of the population, induce it to rise in mass 



252 MEMOIRS OF 

against the invasion. The Emperor was for a moment 
struck with the idea ; but, in addition to its being some- 
what late in the day, he did not think that he would be 
able to dispense with the Marshal's army corps. He asked 
him whether he would be willing to make the attempt with 
cavalry alone. 

"No, Sire," replied the Marshal; "'it would then be a 
war of partisans. I could not accept that mission." 

Meantime the hours sped by. They set out for Troyes 
by forced marches, and arrived on the 29th. Vain efforts ! 
You know what happened on the 30th ! France had long 
since been exhausted, not so much of money, for the 
countries conquered by us still supplied this, but of men. 
This last scarcity, which it was endeavoured to remedy by 
every kind of conscription, threw whole families into despair 
and want. They were really bled to the uttermost. The 
poor man had to give his last son and in him lost his 
support ; and in the fields it was often the women and 
girls who led the plough. Husbandry suffered as much 
as individuals. And the same disasters occurred in the 
towns. Numbers of families condemned themselves per- 
petually to cripple their fortunes in order to save the young 
man whom other measures ended by reaching. Great 
names, great fortunes, in short, all that might have hoped 
for independence was compelled to assist at least in the 
recruiting of guards of honour. 

In any case, the young man under the flag, whatever the 
feeling of repulsion with which his antecedents might 
inspire him for the Government, saw nothing but honour 



MARSHAL OUDINOT 



253 



before him, and served with courage and loyalty ; but it 
was in the families that resentment was felt. The crape 
with which the Russian and Leipzig campaigns had covered 
France had not yet disappeared ; bitter tears were still 
being shed. People realized that, by yielding a certain 
number of his conquests in preceding years, the Emperor 
might have saved France this invasion ; that, a little later, 
the line of the Rhine would at least have been left to him ; 
that, even at the very time we had reached, if he would only 
give the Due de Vicence (his representative at the Congress 
of Chatillon) the latitude which that zealous functionary 
demanded, he would still obtain supportable conditions of 
peace. Peace ! the cry was in every heart : for of glory, 
the everyday food of the country, France had had a 
sufficient share. 

In Paris everything was assuming a more and more 
sombre aspect. Everyone was making final arrange- 
ments to ensure the safety of his possessions. The majority 
of those who held with the Government, either from attach- 
ment or from the sense of duty, had decided, like myself, to 
follow the movements of the Regent. The Court of the 
Tuileries was spied upon from morning to night in order to 
obtain wind of the first preparations for departure. As for 
me, I was certain of being one of the first to be informed by 
the Sainte-Aulaire family, with whom I was to join forces, 
whatever happened, and I kept myself in readiness, although 
at the same time deploring the necessity in which I found 
myself of abandoning my two children at school and my 
husband's eldest son, who was still too ill to be moved. 



254 MEMOIRS OF 

At last, on the 29th of March, I was informed that the 
carriages and luggage-waggons of the Empress were stand- 
ing ready in the court -yard of the Tuileries, and that Blois 
was the probable destination of Marie Louise, the King of 
Rome and the Council of Regency. I at once made my 
arrangements with the Sainte-Aulaire family to set out 
the same evening. 

While on this subject, I cannot keep back the reflection 
which I made later, as did many others, that the face of 
the whole world might have been changed if the Regent, 
using the power with which she was invested, and resisting 
the distracted heads which advised her, had decided to 
await events in Paris. Had they found at the seat of 
Government the daughter of the Emperor of Austria, who 
among the Allied Sovereigns would have wished to expel 
her, when they admitted that their sole resolve was to 
dethrone the Emperor, without seeming to think of a 
successor? They would probably have maintained the 
Regent ; but she threw up the game and thus lost it 
without hope of recovery. 

I heard related with many details the resistance, which 
was thought instinctive, of the King of Rome, who uttered 
loud cries and clung to all the curtains of the Tuileries, so 
as not to go on what they represented to him as a walk. It 
was a natural whim on the part of a child of three, but it 
was turned into a presentiment. 

It was known that the corps of Marshals the Due de 
Trevise and the Due dc Ragune alone were defending 
the line of Mcaux from the heights of Roniainvillc, while 



MARSHAL OUDINOT 255 

King Joseph acted as generalissimo in Paris. The 
Versailles road was free, and the Sainte-Aulaire family 
ready ; we let the Empress, her suite and her escort set 
out, and at about four o'clock in the afternoon v/e our- 
selves departed for Versailles, which was to be our first 
halt. 

It was almost dark when we arrived. We took pos- 
session of two adjacent rooms in an already crowded inn in 
the Rue de I'Orangerie. During the whole night, an in- 
cessant and confused noise told us of the passage of a large 
number of men, horses and carriages, and soon the day- 
light revealed the most astonishing sight that human eyes 
perhaps have ever looked upon. We stood motionless at 
our windows ; what we saw passing, my children, was . . . 
the Empire ! The Empire, which was departing, with all 
its pomp and splendour ; the ministers, all in their coaches 
and six, taking with them portfolio, wife, children, jewels, 
livery ; the entire Council of State ; the archives ; the 
Crown diamonds ; the administrations. And instalments 
of power and magnificence were mingled on the road with 
humble households who had heaped up on a barrow all 
they had been able to carry away from the houses which 
they were abandoning, as they thought, to the pillage which 
was about to burst forth over the country. The cannon had 
begun to thunder at daybreak. 

M. de Saint-Aulaire incessantly went to and fro. Some- 
times he would stop some of those emblazoned carriages, 
containing people whom we knew ; but they for the most 
part, gloomy and terrified, knew no more than we did. 



256 MEMOIRS OF 

They were fighting, they told us, at the gates of Paris. 
Alas ! could we not hear it ! 

At about half-past four appeared the famous proclamation 
of King Joseph. M. de Sainte-Aulaire hastened to bring it 
to us ; it was worded to encourage the defence, and ended 
with these words : " Parisians, I remain in your midst ! " 
We had hardly finished reading this production when, amid 
the increasing tumult, we saw a numerous staff make way 
for itself with difficulty. It came slowly forward, and when 
within our range we distinguished . . . the Emperor! At 
least so I thought. ... I gave a loud cry of " Long live 
the Emperor ! " stretching out my arms, thinking I saw 
your father in each of the general officers who followed 
him. I must have lost my head to believe even for a 
moment that at that supreme moment I saw the Emperor 
turn his back on Paris. My travelling-companions, who 
had for a moment shared my illusion, recovered their pre- 
sence of mind sooner than I did, and promptly convinced 
me of my error : it was not the Emperor, but his brother 
Joseph, who was very like him, and who was abandoning 
the city almost in the same hour in which he had pro- 
claimed his faithful presence. He left after saying to the 
inhabitants, " Fight ! " 

It was eight o'clock when we left the inn where he had 
spent so horrible a day and joined tiie interminable 
column of which I have spoken. The disorder on the 
road, in the complete darkness, was terrible. We reached 
Rambouillet at about two o'clock in the morning ; it was 
necessary to give our horses a rest and some food if 



MARSHAL OUDINOT 257 

possible; but the crowd was so great that we could not 
recognise one another. However, M, de Sainte-Aulaire suc- 
ceeded in elbowing his way to the castle, in order to enquire 
which of the retreating dignitaries had stopped there. 
He soon came back and told us that Queen Hortense had 
taken refuge there since the day before and was already 
preparing to leave ; and he offered to take us to her at 
once. For want of another resting-place we would have 
been obliged to stay in our carriages, amid a com- 
pact crowd of people and horses. It was not without 
great difficulty that our guide made way for us ; but at 
last we reached the gate of the castle, and, soon after, the 
Princess's apartments. 

I knew her but slightly, but under such circumstances one 
was above ceremony. We first entered the room of Mile. 
Cochelet, her reader and confidant ; she got out of bed 
and received us half dressed. We had hardly entered 
when she began to utter loud screams, provoked not only 
by the general situation, but also by certain particular acts, 
and notably the retreat of King Joseph. 

"Would you believe," she said, "he quietly came and 
supped here ! He wanted supper, after a day like that ! '' 

We next went to the Queen. She was less expansive 
than Mile. Cochelet, but nevertheless allowed us to sus- 
pect all the fears, bitterness, and reproaches that filled 
her heart. Her two sons, aged four and six respectively, 
were already awake and dressed, and played about her. 
It was in order to remove them from the events in Paris 
that she had left the Empress Josephine, her mother, 



258 MEMOIRS OF 

about whom she was exceedingly anxious, especially since 
she had learnt that, without giving her warning, they had 
blown up the bridge of Neuilly, in the interest of the 
defence of Paris. " And so she is alone at Malmaison ! " 
cried the Queen, in despair. 

During this interview, which took place in a large 
room badly lighted by the dawn, which was only just 
breaking, and the candles, which were going out, we saw 
the maids, in tears, hastening the preparations for flight of 
this Princess, whom I was never to see again. 

We regained the town, not without difficulty. The day 
which had arisen brought to view the most tumultuous 
scene. Soon everyone resumed his journey. There was 
no adieu said ; no ati revoir : it was, alas, a rout ! Each 
man for himself. 

We arrived during the day at Liouville, an old chateau 
belonging to my travelling companions. That part of the 
Beauce in which it stood was not yet disturbed by any 
news of the events which I have described. We were 
received by the Comtesse Victor de Juigne, sister to 
Mme. de Sainte-Aulaire, who, although holding no 
political opinions, received us with exquisite, but cold, 
politeness. The fall of the Empire, it must be admitted, 
was for the time the object of every wish; but there was 
no necessity for explanations, and each kept his reserve. 
After a fish dinner (it was Holy Week), we retired to our 
rooms, worn out beneath the weight of the moral and 
physical fatigues we had undergone during the twenty- 
four hours that had just elapsed. 



MARSHAL OUDINOT 259 

I was young: I slept long and soundly. No political 
news came to break the weariness of the next day. A 
iew fugitives, friends or relations of the Sainte-Aulaire 
family, came to ask for shelter ; but they knew no more 
than we did. It was impossible to prolong our stay at 
Liouville ; we had given our horses a day's rest, and on 
the 1st of April our caravan took a cross road in order to 
reach the high road for Chartres. 

We arrived in that town about the middle of the day, 
and were struck with astonishment at seeing all the doors 
and windows closed and a complete absence of people in 
the streets. Only a carters' tavern was open ; our carriages 
rolled into the yard, and soon we were all gathered in a 
large room which I shall never forget. M. de Saint- 
Aulaire set out in search of information. They told us in 
the house that there was fighting going on at some little 
distance, and that soon they would be able to know how 
the troops were disposed, because there were people 
looking out from the cathedral belfry, which is a very tall 
one, as every one knows. Our anxiety was great, but did 
not last long : it was a false alarm we heard, caused by the 
explosion of a convoy of powder, which had burst a few 
leagues off. The general terror had made a pitched battle 
of it. 

My one desire was to place myself as soon as possible 
in the situation laid down for me by the Marshal, that is 
to put the Loire behind me. I saw the Sainte-Aulaire 
family hesitating in its march, and for a thousand reasons 
I was distressed at parting from them ; but the same 



26o MEMOIRS OF 

evening I took my leave of them, and continued my 
journey to Tours. I travelled in fear and trembling, 
however ; for I had no male attendant with me except 
my coachman, who had only been three months in my 
service. 

About two o'clock, the coachman told me that the horses 
could go no further. We were in a village ; I told him 
to knock at the first sign we came to. I was given a room 
of some sort, and I clambered on to a bed which almost 
touched the ceiling. I was ready to set out again at 
daybreak ; but when I was asked to pay seventy -two 
francs for this short stay, I objected, and looking the old 
hag who wanted to fleece me in the face, I asked her for 
her bill in detail. 

" There's no need for a bill ; you can pay three louis, as 
the Princesse de Neuchatel has just done." 

" Possibly ; but I am curious to know the price of 
things in your part of the country, and I want a bill. 
When I have got it, I will go and pay a little visit to 
your magistrate." 

She thereupon brought me her bill, which amounted to 
twenty-seven francs ; and I thought myself lucky to 
escape so cheaply, while recognizing that I was still being 
robbed. 

To make up for this, I must tell you of my good Mme. 
Raymond, the hostess of the Trois Monarques at Chateau- 
dun. I alighted at her house about mid-day, and as he 
unharnessed his horses, the coachman declared that they 
could not take another step that day. It was most dis- 



MARSHAL OUDINOT 261 

Couraging ; yet what should I have gained by killing 
them, when every other means of transport might fail me 
entirely ? It was evident that I was the last fugitive who 
dared venture upon ground which they expected to see 
invaded at any moment by the allies. All traffic seemed 
to have ceased since the preceding day. 

" Oh dear," said I to the kind hostess, who, with her 
arms akimbo, was looking at me sadly, while giving me 
these details ; " and suppose the enemy arrives while I am 
with you ? " 

" Well then, I will hide you ; trust to me, little lady, 
and begin by handing me all those red boxes, which no 
one must be allowed to see." 

She installed me in her best room, went and locked up 
my jewel-caskets, and returned to try and console me. 

" I have seen a deal of sorrow since the last three 
days," she said ; " whatever has delayed you so on this 
road .? " 

I then understood what a mistake I had made in spend- 
ing twenty-four hours at Liouville ; but if you think of 
my habits of life, always surrounded and watched over, 
you will perhaps understand how, in my ignorance of 
events, I hesitated to leave my Sainte-Aulaire friends and 
surrender myself alone, as I then was, to all the hazards 
of that flight. 

The next morning I heard a great tumult beneath my 
windows ; something had evidently happened, and soon I 
saw an officer of Dragoons entering my room, visibly 
excited. I did not know him. His detachment, which 



262 MEMOIRS OF 

had just entered Ch^teaudun, was galloping through the 
streets. 

" I learnt a moment ago," said he, " that a section of 
the enemy was about to fall upon the town, and that 
the wife of Marshal Oudinot was alone and undefended in 
this inn. I have come to place myself at her disposal." 

The frightful terror which had overpowered me was not 
so great as to paralyze my sense of gratitude ; but the 
officer gave me no time to express it. 

" If you will believe me, madame," he said, " you will 
leave without delay ; the road is still free in front of you, 
that is clear, and we shall be able to keep back the enemy 
here long enough to enable you to reach a safer retreat." 

With this man's obligingness and devotion was mingled 
a sort of prodigious exaltation, which ended by bursting 
out in these words, pronounced with fury : 

"Ah, madame la marechale, it's all up with the Emperor 
and the army, and we are going to be governed by a king 
in petticoats." 

I was stupefied, not knowing that an absurd rumour was 
about which thus clad Louis XVIII. in its imagination. 

" But start, start ! " cried the officer. 

Half distraught, I stepped into my carriage, thanking 
him as best I could. I knew his name, and I have forgotten 
it. I am ashamed to have to make this ax'owal ! 

I reached Vcndome in the evening, and I was about to 
go to bed in an inn which seemed pretty quiet, when the 
Comte de Saintc-Aulairc forced my door and told me that 
the road which he had just followed behind me was still 



MARSHAL OUDINOT 263 

clear, and that my good Dragoons had not been called 
upon to draw their swords. With an emotion which I fully 
shared, the traveller told me of the entry into Paris of the 
allied armies. Details were still wanting, but the name 
of the Bourbons had already been pronounced, and the 
Emperor was known to be at Fontainebleau with his Guard. 
The alternative which resulted from these events was cal- 
culated to confuse a more experienced judgment than mine. 
The Emperor conquered and dethroned was enough to 
revolt my belief ; the Emperor in submission seemed still 
more impossible; and, from the chaos of my thoughts, what 
issued as most clear and most likely was still his retreat 
behind the Loire and consequently a defence with which I 
naturally associated, the Marshal. Accordingly I must 
continue my journey and cross to the other bank. My 
sister, with her husband's family, was expecting me at 
Poitiers ; but I had resolved first of all to stop at Tours, 
there to await details. I arrived there the next day, and 
alighted at the Hotel du Faisan, which stands in the middle 
of the Grande Rue. 

It was very late, and I went to bed full of emotions, but 
I thought, with a sort of consolation, that at least for the 
moment there was to be no fighting. Yet this was only a 
conjecture, and my first course the next morning was to 
write to the Prefect, who was at that time the Comte de 
Kergorlay, to ask him in confidence, although I did not 
know him, to communicate to me what I wanted to know. 
I implored him to take compassion on my anxiety concern- 
ing the Marshal, and I received no reply. 



264 MEMOIRS OF 

The hotel at which I was staying presented the noise and 
movement of a beehive. I was sorrowfully listening to 
this humming when my maid came to tell me that a 
chasseur, covered with gold lace, had come to beg me to 
grant a short interview to his master. Who was this 
master.? No one less than Fouch6, whom I had never 
seen ! Without having had time to prepare myself for this 
immediate meeting, I beheld him entering my room. 
What an astonishing face ! Hair, eyebrows, complexion, 
eyes, all seemed to me to be of the same shade. So soon 
as he had sat down, he asked for news of my husband, 

" Alas ! " I replied, " I expect to hear news of him from 
everyone I meet, including yourself, monsieur le due.'' 

"What, madame ! you have just arrived and you know 
no more than all of us, who have been refuged here during 
the last two or three days." 

I then explained to him the cause of my delay. He 
seemed overcome with his disappointment at finding that 
this newest arrival could tell him nothing. His strange 
glance wandered restlessly round my room. At last he 
spoke again, and asked me, with hesitation, what the 
Marshal would do under the circumstances of the 
moment. 

"Will he follow the Emperor's fortunes, do you tliink, 
madame .'' or, if the Empire goes down, will he attach 
himself to a new order of things .'' " 

The question was hard, but the answer was very simple. 

" Although I do not know what has happened," I replied, 
"and am unable to see into the future, I know that the 



MARSHAL OUDINOT 265 

Marshal, as always, will let himself be guided solely by 
honour, duty, and the love of his country ; that is all I can 
tell you." 

Thereupon he made me a very deep bow and withdrew. 
I have never seen him since. 

Meantime, I felt the necessity of communicating with the 
refugees who were in the same position as myself at Tours, 
and I called first upon the Marechale Massena, towards 
whom my husband had always told me to be very obliging 
as being so much my senior. She received me very affably, 
and groaned a great deal for me and especially for herselt 
at the crisis of the moment. Then suddenly she said : 

" Do you know, we may have to wander for whole months 
after the Emperor and the army before the crisis is decided .'* 
I foresaw this, and have taken my precautions. How much 
money have you .'' I have sixty thousand francs in gold 
in the boot of my carriage." 

I evaded the question, not thinking myself obliged to 
own that I only possessed just one year's interest on sixty 
thousand francs. 

A long week was passed in this way, when suddenly the 
Prefect sent out a cloud of newspapers, advantages which 
we had not known for a long time. They were printed 
under the Provisional Government and gave our eager 
minds the details of the events which had taken place 
since the 30th of March. When you read this period or 
our history, my children, after so many years' interval, you 
are astonished at the rapidity and importance of the 
catastrophes which it contains. You can imagine therefore 



266 MEMOIRS OF 

of the impression produced by these revelations upon con- 
temporaries and especially upon those whose dearest and 
directest interests were at stake ! 

Your father's name was not yet mentioned ; but it seemed 
certain to me that his rallying to the new government 
would be the result of the freedom which was restored to 
him by the abdication of the Emperor. 

Amid this maze of surprises, regrets, and hopes of the 
realization of a peace so eagerly longed for, I remained 
confused and at a loss. My opinions hesitated between 
the traditional cult with which I had been inculcated as a 
child for the family of the Bourbons, and my enthusiasm 
as a young girl and young married woman for the 
Empire, Moreover, all my personal inclinations must give 
way before those of my husband ; and my brain was on 
fire in presence of so many hesitations and uncertainties. 
The day was spent in this condition of moral fever. My 
want of experience paralyzed my power of taking any 
action on the spot ; although I was not the only one who 
was in the same plight I know not with what resolution 
I went to bed : I believe with none ; but what I remember 
is that at break of day there came a loud knocking at 
my door, and before my maid had come, the following 
colloquy took place between the man in the passage and 
myself: 

" Who are you } " I cried. 

" Verg6," was the reply. 

" Oh ! Monsieur Verge, where have you left my husband ? 
Speak, speak ! " 



MARSHAL OUDINOT 267 

" M. le marechal returned from Fontainebleau to Paris, 
after the Emperor's abdication. He has recognized the 
government of the Bourbons, represented by the Provisional 
Government. Peace is made and all is over, M. le 
marechal is very anxious about you, madame, and ordered 
me to follow this line, on which he supposed you to be, 
until I had the good fortune to find you." 

I set out forthwith. On alighting from my carriage, all 
eagerness, in the Rue de Bourgogne, I was very disappointed 
at not finding my husband, who had gone to meet M. le 
Comte d'Artois. It was the 12th of April 18 14. 

This Prince, the object of the adoration of his party, was, 
in the imagination of all those who composed it, like one 
of those heroes, great and beautiful, of romance and of 
fairy-tales. My mother and my aunts, although they had 
never seen him, had always spoken to me of him under 
this impression. They wept on pronouncing the names of 
Louis XVI., of Marie Antoinette, of the poor little Dauphin, 
of Madame Elisabeth ; they praised all they knew of 
Monsieur (since Louis XVIII.); but when they spoke of 
M. le Comte d'Artois, it was always to add to his name 
some gracious recollection. All these reminiscences, 
eclipsed for a time by the brilliant epoch which was coming 
to an end, now reawakened in me. I thought of the joy 
of my mother, of all my family ; and I only awaited the 
Marshal with the more impatience, anxious as I was at 
last to satisfy myself as to his personal position and the 
manner in which he took it. He returned at last, charmed 
with him whom he loved sincerely and whom he served 



268 MEMOIRS OF 

not only in deeds but as much as possible with his experi- 
ence of French aftairs. 

Monsieur at once appointed your father a Minister 
of State, with a seat on the Council. He spent much 
of his time at the Tuileries, and only returned to be 
assailed by interminable audiences ; he was the central 
point of a large number of various interests which he strove 
to serve. These were those of the army, the Royalist 
party and the emigrants. The latter addressed themselves 
to him with a confidence based upon a very honourable 
past. In the victories of the Republican army over the 
army of Conde, your father, while acting according to his 
duty, had not forgotten that he was fighting against 
Frenchmen, and had softened, perhaps by exceptional 
proceedings, the hardships of the situation. 

Events and obligations accumulated for my household. 
It was a question of visiting the Lieutenant-General of the 
Kingdom, Monsieur, at the Tuileries. The Prince had 
declared that he would receive all the ladies ; and this was 
taken so literally that confusion inconceivable reigned at 
this assembly, where I was told that even the Montansier 
was seen, she who gave her name to one of the small 
theatres of that period. 

The Marquise du Roure confided to us that, anticipating 
the interview which was about to take place, she had gone 
with some of her friends and placed herself somewhere 
where Monsieur would have to pass, and that, struck with 
their demonstration of loyalty, he had greeted them with 
his usual graciousness : so much so that each one said, 



MARSHAL OUDINOT 269 

"He recognizes me." On the evening of Monsieur's 
reception, she successfully piloted the troop of young 
married women who had placed themselves under her 
guidance. As for myself, I felt moved ; I thought much 
of my mother . . . 

The excitement of the Royalist ladies surpassed descrip- 
tion, and would have been touching if, by the side of their 
joy, they had not allowed to transpire occasional acrimony 
against the beaten party ; but Mmes. du Roure and de 
Sainte-Aulaire were not among those who acted like this. 
Meantime the heat, the noise, and the agitation seemed to 
have reached their height, when a redoubled clamour in- 
formed us that the Prince was approaching. I stood on 
tip-toe, and perceived his very noble head gracefully and 
unceasingly bowing. At last he stood before us. He was 
exceedingly amiable to Mme. du Roure, who presented me 
to him. At the sound of my name, he made a quick move- 
ment of interest, eagerly stepped towards me, and said so 
many kind things bearing upon the Marshal's reputation that 
my voice, filled with tears, could hardly be heard in reply. 
But the kind Prince understood, and he has often since told 
me that my emiOtion added to the favourable impression 
which the mention of this new name, so renowned and so 
unblemished, had produced upon him. Myself, I at once 
felt for Charles X. the commencement of that veneration 
and confidence which grew naturally from the acquaintance 
which I afterwards made with his character, when I had to fill 
my important office about the person of his daughter-in-law. 

Among the duties which arose, in complicated fashion, 



270 MEMOIRS OF 

at that time was one which a very regrettable death left 
me only just time to fulfil. I wished to see the Empress 
Josephine, who had remained at Malmaison, where she had 
been respected amid all the tumult. I called one morning 
with Mme. de Sainte-Aulaire. We were shown into the 
drawing-room next to the gallery where the Princess was 
closeted, we were told, with Mme. de Stael. The Emperor's 
personal enemy had probably thought it in good taste to 
put in an appearance at that time at Malmaison. The 
action was kindly enough in itself, if the woman of genius 
had not been so eager to exploit it in favour of her study 
of the human heart, as perhaps you will agree when you 
read what follows. 

When the Empress and Mme. de Stael appeared, the 
former wore an air of great excitement and emotion. 
Mme. de Stael rapidly crossed the room, bowed, and went 
out. I must tell you that during the conference there had 
been shown into the drawing-room, in addition to Mme. de 
Sainte-Aulaire and myself, the Countess Waleska, the 
Polish woman to whom the Emperor was said to have 
attached himself so fondly during the campaign of 1806. 
These two women, of whom one had detested the Emperor 
whom the other had perhaps too well loved, drawn by the 
same impulse towards the repudiated Consort, formed, you 
will agree, a strange contrast. Josephine, however, gave us 
no time to reflect upon this singular meeting ; after re- 
sponding to Mme. de Stael's farewell courtesy, she quickly 
came up to the chimney, where we were all standing in 
silence, and said, without any preamble : 



MARSHAL OUDINOT 271 

" I have just finished a very painful interview. Would 
you believe that, among other questions which Mme. de 
Stael thought fit to put to me, she asked me whether I 
still loved the Emperor ? She seemed to wish to analyze 
my heart in presence of this great misfortune. I, who have 
never ceased to love the Emperor in the midst of his great- 
ness . . . did she think that I should now grow cold 
towards him ? " 

The Empress was already very ill. Her head was 
wrapped in a large English shawl ; she was flushed, her 
breathing was oppressed, and she complained of catarrh. 
One could see that she was suffering in both body and 
soul. She conducted almost the whole of the conversation, 
talking with a freedom inspired probably by the sympathy 
which she saw imprinted upon Mme. de Sainte-Aulaire's 
features and mine; and when she withdrew, she made us 
promise to return and dine with her the next Sunday. 
Alas ! before then she was dead ! . . . She was followed 
by many regrets. I have heard King Charles X., who 
went to pay her a visit, say that he would have been very 
happy to continue on intimate terms with this excellent 
Princess. 

Impressions of every kind succeeded one another without 
interruption. Not many days afterwards, the Marshal 
came he me one evening and told me to prepare to receive 
the Czar of Russia the next day. My agitation was great 
at this news. My husband summoned his staff and all the 
cripples of the war whom he was able to collect among his 
intimates ; and in fact nearly all those who gathered round 



272 MEMOIRS OF 

him at the top of the staircase to receive the Emperor were 
more or less mutilated. Since Montereau, General Pajol 
wore his arm in a sling ; since Craonne, Victor walked upon 
crutches ; M. de Xaintrailles was bent in two as the result 
of a lance-thrust in the loins ; M. Jacqueminot still limped 
badly, as did General Factoid : in a word the gathering 
was a striking one, and did not fail to produce its effect. 

With the exquisite grace which never left him, the Czar 
gave me his hand to lead me to the drawing-room, where 
all our cripples followed us. They formed themselves in 
a circle, and the Marshal mentioned their names one after 
the other. Each was plied with questions in detail, full of 
a visible interest. 

"Gentlemen," said the Czar, when he had finished, "you 
have been very badly treated by this war ; but if on our 
side we have gained a certain skill, to whom do we owe it? 
Why, the terrible lessons you used to give us have ended 
by turning to our advantage." 

As he pronounced these charming words, the Czar sat 
down, and invited everyone to do the same. He continued 
in the same tone, taking us back to the last campaigns, 
always allowing us a large share in the glory, and fascinat- 
ing us to such a degree with his conversation, so elegant 
and chivalrous at the same time, that we, the vanquished 
and mutilated, fell beneath the charm of the conqueror. 
This was because Alexander was botii magnanimous and 
sincere, and the perfect harmony between his language and 
his fine physiognomy and the inflection of his voice carried 
conviction to every mind. 



MARSHAL OUDINOT 273 

This memorable visit, which was prolonged for about an 
hour, left in all of us a precious remembrance. When the 
Emperor rose to go, he found for his escort a company of 
cavalry which the Marshal had requested of the first 
military division ; the Marshal's principal aide-de-camp 
had orders to command it and to ride by the Czar's 
carriage-door. 

The Bourbons really appeared in the guise of a pledge of 
peace ; and it was as such that they were accepted by the 
generality of the population, who, while not knowing them, 
received them as the olive-branch, the symbol which re- 
moved all idea of war. By the minority they were received 
with the enthusiasm of hearts which had religiously pre- 
served the memory of the past. But the graciousness of the 
Lieutenant-General, of which I have already spoken, was 
beginning to incline all minds in their favour, without 
distinction of party. The rumour soon spread of a Charter 
which Louis XVIII. had long meditated, based upon the 
British Constitution. From that moment, all ideas, com- 
binations and hopes were turned in his direction, and the 
arrival of the King was anxiously awaited. The approach- 
ing entry of M. le Due de Berry was also announced. He 
preceded the King his uncle, and had disembarked at 
Cherbourg, whence he travelled by short journeys, receiving 
the homage of the population on the way. 

General de Lorencez was in command at Cherbourg, 
and was the first military authority to welcome the Prince. 
He accompanied him to Paris, and seemed quite impressed 
with the candour, the kindness, the wit and even the 



27+ MEMOIRS OF 

extreme vivacity of M. le Due de Berry, who on his side 
had refused to be separated from the General during the 
whole journey. They had travelled from fete to fete ; the 
Prince's head was really turned with happiness; and no pre- 
sentiment cast its shadow over that confiding heart, which 
was to be pierced by an assassin's dagger not many years 
later. My husband soon made the acquaintance of M. le 
Due de Berry, and they conceived for each other a mutual 
affection, the outcome of their frank and winning natures. 

Meantime the King had disembarked at Calais with 
Mme. la Duchesse d'Angouleme. The liberal intentions (for 
the word Liberalism now first came into fashion) attributed 
to the new Monarch had attenuated, although perhaps not 
in the army, the hostile rumours which had at first been 
spread with respect to him. Everyone agreed in saying 
that he was full of experience, enlightenment and erudition. 
As to the Princess, although nothing was known of her 
appearance or her habits, she aroused great interest ; and 
as one likes to give a shape to people one has never seen, 
it was settled that Louis XVL's orphan, the august 
prisoner of the Temple, was shy, sad and gentle, and that 
she had a pale countenance, a supple form, and a weak, 
soft voice. 

Let me say at once that upon her apparition the Princess 
gave the lie to all these conjectures ; and she was never 
forgiven for it. Mme. la Duchesse d'Angouleme, in fact, 
was strongly built, with a high colour ; her eyes had been 
inflamed by the tears of her youth, but her keen, quick, 
frank glance was not at all cast down. Her voice, which 



MARSHAL OUDINOr 275 

was, it was said, her father's, was a little masculine, abrupt 
and positive. Her movements were almost always sudden; 
there was no deliberateness about her whole person, any 
more than about that noble heart, which had never 
anything to conceal. 

One of the King's first acts was to promulgate the 
Constitutional Charter. The King had turned the Senate 
of the Empire into a House of Peers, after adding to the 
list some names selected by himself, of whom my husband 
formed one. The solemn sitting for the reading of the 
Charter was held in the hall of the Legislative Body. I 
was present with a host of other ladies, all eager to witness 
the reception accorded to the important words which were 
about to be read. After the customary ceremonial, the 
Comte Dabray, the Chancellor of France, read this im- 
portant act in a very loud voice, and it was passed with 
enthusiasm before the House rose. If there were any 
dissentients, they did not show themselves then. 

Soon the time came to be presented to the King and to 
his august niece. The day was appointed, and the discus- 
sion on the costume to be worn commenced forthwith. We 
must have Court mantles, said one. No, said the others, 
the Court properly so-called is not yet organised. The 
great question was decided in favour of gowns with long 
trains ; and the fieurs-de-lys were revived. The King's 
reception was, like the preceding one, very numerously 
attended and very agitated. His Majesty, who at that 
time used still to stand up, made one forget, by his amiable 
and dignified address, the enormousness of his size. He 



276 MEMOIRS OF 

received me with extreme graciousness, but I confess that 
I ahvaj's felt a little timid in his presence. 

I have not yet spoken of M. le Due d'Angouleme, that 
misjudged Prince, a very type of virtue, whom God alone 
Avill have rewarded. Although somewhat resembling tiie 
Prince his father, he could not be described as good-look- 
ing. His figure was frail, his movements sudden, and he 
was very short-sighted. This ensemble did not predispose 
one in his favour ; but when you saw him in a drawing- 
room, the expression of his loyal and kindly face captivated 
you before long. Of an exemplary piety, M. le Due 
d'Angouleme was, and remained until the end, the slave of 
his duties as a husband, a son, and a subject. If he always 
insisted upon the prerogatives due to his rank, this was 
because he regarded himself as their depositary ; for per- 
sonally he set no price upon them. His innate courage 
was further supported by his perfect resignation to the 
events which might follow from duties accomplished. He 
was inflexible upon subjects that he considered just, and 
nothing then could make him change his resolution. In 
one word, he was the gentleman of olden time, in his faith, 
his loyalty, and perhaps even in the abruptness of his 
speech. 

Together with the Royal FamiK^, there returned succes- 
sivcl)' to France all the Princes of the IMood. One of the 
best known of them, through his name and his influence 
upon the emigration, was M. Ic Prince de Conde. This 
august chief of the army to which he had given his name 
had lost part of his intellectual faculties at the time of his 



MARSHAL OUDINOT 277 

return to France, although this did not prevent a multitude 
of people from calling upon him. He received with ex- 
treme politeness. The old names were always present in 
his recollection ; but he was not always able to remember 
the period of events which had happened, and he once 
replied to a lady who came to ask a favour of him, " I will 
mention the matter to Mme. de Polignac, who will explain 
your business to the Queen," thus passing over the whole 
terrible period which at moments escaped from his weary 
head. 

When my husband was presented to him, struck with the 
name, he said : 

" Oudinot ! Ah, that is my antagonist at Constance." 

His recollection then became more lucid for a time, and 
after exchanging a few words with my husband upon that 
military event : 

" You are a brave man," he said, " and I will talk to the 
King so that he may make you a general." 

I remember a dinner to which he invited us at the Palais- 
Bourbon, to which he had returned. Victor was one of the 
party. He had just been appointed Colonel of the King's 
Hussars (4th Regiment), and sat facing the old Prince, who 
had placed me by his side, while the Princesse de Wagram 
sat on the other. The Prince was almost blind and very 
deaf. Soon a laboured conversation was started. He 
mixed up his two neighbours and their husbands, and there 
was nothing but interrupted remarks and explanations, 
which were the more confusing inasmuch as it was neces- 
sary to shout them out amid an immense table at which all 



278 MEMOIRS OF 

the guests maintained a silence full of respect for the august 
old man. I was half dead with the effort ; but after an in- 
terval, during which I had taken time to breathe, the Prince 
looked across at my step-son. 

" Who," he asked, " is that Austrian officer ! " 

" Why, Monseigneur, it's my step-son." 

" Your son ? " 

He turned round and looked at me : I was twenty-two. 

" But at what age were you married then ? " 

" But, Monseigneur, he is my step-son." 

"Ah, I understand, his mother, , . . Where is his pro- 
perty ? " 

In those days Victor's property, my children, was some- 
what indefinite ; but as I did not want to give a full 
explanation of our position before all the witnesses who were 
listening to us, I replied : 

" At Bar-sur-Ornain, Monseigneur." 

" Where is that ? " asked the Prince. " I don't know the 
name." 

Utterly nonplussed, I replied : 

" Bar-le-Duc." 

"Why are you not more explicit, madame : now I know 
where you mean.'' 

Why indeed had I called by its revolutionary name the 
capital of the Dues de Bar? Great beads of perspiration 
stood on my forehead after this tough conversation. 

We also visited the Princesses : the Dowager Mme. la 
Duchesse d'Orleans, ju^c Penthievre, mother of Louis- 
Philippe, and Mme. la Duchesse de Bourbon, mother of 



MARSHAL OUDINOT 279 

M. le Due d'Enghien. M. le Due d'0rl6ans, his wife, a 
daughter of the King of Naples, his sister, Mile. d'Orleans, 
and two or three of his children, still very young, returned 
a little later than the Royal Family. I must not forget 
M. le Due de Bourbon. He was tall, distinguished, and 
sad-looking. There was something about his whole ap- 
pearance which seemed well-suited to the father of the 
Due d'Enghien. 

The private events and general interests in which my 
husband took part kept us constantly occupied. A serious 
question came up for debate before the Council of Ministers, 
at which your father assisted in his quality as Minister of 
State without portfolio. This was to define the position of 
the ex-Imperial Guard. Your father endeavoured in vain, 
in the interest both of the Dynasty and of those picked 
troops, to use all his credit in order to have only one word 
changed, and to have all these brave soldiers made into a 
Royal Guard. He met with keen sympathy among the 
Princes and also among the minority of the Council of 
Ministers, including M. I'Abbe de Montesquiou, the Minister 
of the Interior ; but they were opposed and unfortunately 
defeated by men whose devotion to the cause of the Bour- 
bons was estimable because of its fidelity, but very regret- 
table in its results. These carried the day, and the infantry 
of the Imperial Guard was divided into Royal Grenadiers 
and Royal Chasseurs. Their command-in-chief was given 
to Marshal Oudinot, with instructions to establish these 
troops, who had lost their high pay, in two garrisons far 
removed from Paris, where they had always performed a 



28o MEMOIRS OF 

confidential service, Metz was assigned to the Grenadiers 
and Nancy to the Chasseurs. Unable to obtain any of the 
advantages of the past for these magnificent re~iments, the 
Marshal asked and obtained that at least one of the Princes 
should come with him and review them before they were 
removed from Fontainebleau. Yes, it was in this spot, 
still resounding with the Emperor's last farewells, that his 
Guard had been left for several months. 

It was decided that M. le Due de Berry should fulfil this 
mission. In order to make it as fruitful as he could, the 
Marshal went on ahead, and worked so hard and so well 
that he did not fear to urge the Prince to hurry his visit. 
By showing these whiskered veterans his well-known face, 
the Marshal had disposed them as favourably as was to be 
expected. On his side, M. le Due de Berry put so much 
graciousness into his words and his actions that the Mar- 
shal could only congratulate him and ask him always to 
continue in the same road. 

The Prince returned to Paris charmed with the ex- 
Impcrial Guard, too much charmed perhaps, for he looked 
upon it from that moment as won over to his cause ; 
whereas it was not by such a trifle that so great a conquest 
could be made ! The Marshal knew this, and repeatedly 
said so ; but M. le Due de Berry, quick and impression- 
able, and still possessing at thirty-six all the illusions, 
tastes and ardour of youth, had taken cvcr^-thing in 
confidence since the first day of his return to France. 
If he had been the master, the opinions of the Marshal 
would probably have been adopted. It would have been 



MARSHAL OUDINOT 281 

the best means of gaining the nation. But generally only 
half-measures were taken, and soon dull discontent and ill- 
restrained murmurs began to be heard. They issued from 
both camps. 

I often felt very sad. I thought that everybody was in 
the right or that everybody was in the wrong, as you prefer. 
I should have liked to work to conciliate everybody, as my 
husband did. In fact, idolized by the army, and respected 
by the emigrants for having supported them on certain 
unfortunate occasions, the Marshal spent his life in lec- 
turing the one, in consoling the other, in pleading for the 
interests of all, now with the Princes, to whom he had 
access at all times, now with the ministers. His life was so 
gteatly divided among all these divers interests that I 
scarcely ever saw him. 

The City of Paris gave a fete to the King. Now the 

City of Paris is a great and puissant lady, and when she 

puts herself out, it is to some purpose, I promise you. I 

was almost not taking part in this function, for I had just 

undergone a fresh deception in my maternal expectations. 

However, my strong constitution soon restored my health 

sufficiently to enable me to content the Marshal, who 

very much wished to take me to this fete. It commenced 

as early as two o'clock in the afternoon. Seven immense 

rooms had been prepared at the Hotel de Ville, in each of 

which a different entertainment was to be provided, from 

two until nine in the evening. Seven sets of tickets had 

been distributed, upon which all Paris threw itself with 

the avidity which distinguishes it and which always will 
19 



282 MEMOIRS OF 

distinguish it on occasions of this kind. The marshals 
and their wives were asked to the whole series. I cannot 
give you a very exact account of this splendid fete, first 
because my fatigue prevented me from taking note of 
everything, and then because I have seen so many since 
that this one grows confused with the rest. There were, in 
short, speeches, replies, cantatas, interludes befitting the 
occasion, music, sumptuous repasts, magnificent illumina- 
tions, and finally, balls consisting of ofhcial quadrilles of 
which I did not stay for the end of even the first. 

At this first banquet of the Hotel de Ville, as at all 
those that I have attended since, what struck me was to 
see the twelve mayors of the town, dressed in their uni- 
forms, standing behind the King's chair and waiting upon 
him at table, while all of us who formed part of his suite 
received our plates from the hands of messieurs the 
members of the Municipal Council, all wearing their uni- 
forms. 

It Avas at this dinner that I more specially made the 
acquaintance of the Marcchalc Duchcsse d'Albufera. 
How pretty she was, and how perfectly happy ! Our 
husbands were intimate with one another, our positions 
were analogous, and from that time onward we were great 
friends. 

Soon after, M. le Due de Berry gave a fete at Bagatelle. 
I have omitted as yet to depict to you the character and 
appearance of this Prince. He was short and a little 
cramped of stature, and had at the first glance nothing 
that told very much in his favour ; but his physiognomy 



MARSHAL OUDINOT 283 

was delicate and gracious. His desire to please was 
seconded by a charming wit. Very well educated, he 
spoke several languages with ease, loved all the arts, and 
encouraged them with generosity and discernment. He 
was good-natured and sincere, but sometimes hasty to the 
pitch of passion. This last weakness was greatly to be 
regretted ; because princes, always placed in full view of 
the people, are obliged to play a part from an early date. 
It is therefore the duty of those who train them to accus- 
tom them to self-constraint (not to be confused with 
hypocrisy), and to exercise over themselves the empire 
necessary to their duty as princes. M. le Due de Berry, 
brought up in exile from 1791 to 18 14, had been left to 
his own nature, which was sometimes violent, more often 
generous, and which became sublime when his last hour 
had struck. 

There was talk of a journey of M. le Due de Berry in 
the East. In September, the Marshal received orders 
to go and prepare the way, and it was to this that I 
owed the happiness of being at last able to revisit my 
mother and my family. A short-lived joy, for every minute 
was apportioned. However, one can say and hear much 
even in a few moments, and I gathered many details on 
the terrible months which had been spent. We had no 
m.ore time to delay at Jeand'heurs and at Bar than at 
Vitry, being bound with all possible despatch to reach 
Metz, Nancy and Thionville, for the Marshal had much 
to do in all these places. 

Our excellent friend M. Gouy, who lived at Metz, was 



284 MEMOIRS OF 

of great help to me. He drove me round this charming 
country while my husband's military expeditions took him 
to this side and that. The last of these was to Thion- 
ville, I believe ; but what is certain is that he returned 
with the Prince, and then commenced the turmoil of all 
the bewildering fetes. In a fortified town, containing a 
garrison of ten or twelve thousand men of all arms, all 
under the command of Marshal Oudinot, so active and 
eager, there were bound to be plenty of military displays. 
In the morning it was reviews, sham fights : at night, 
performances at the theatre, balls, fireworks. I remember 
that once, during a display of the latter, we were standing 
on the balcony of the Prefecture, among a great many 
people, when we were assailed by the falling rockets. The 
Prince, taking off his helmet (he always wore a Chasseur 
uniform), came and held it over my head to protect me, 
which I would not allow ; but you will agree that it was a 
chivalrous intention ! 

I suffered during the whole time from the unpleasantness 
of occupying the place of honour. This was the inevitable 
consequence of the rank of my husband. I did not dance, 
and remained with a large number of ladies in the boxes 
of the theatre, where the ball was given. The sight was 
animated and charming ; and when I\I. le Due de Berry 
started to walk round the room, the officers, with a 
spontaneous movement, placed themselves in two rows, 
drew their swords, and crossed them above the Piince's 
head, he passing beneath this vault of steel with a quick 
feeling of happiness, eagerly displayed. 



MARSHAL OUDINOT 285 

From Metz, the Prince went to Nancy, where the 
Marshal preceded him. My husband and I stayed with Mgr. 
d'Osmond, a prelate who was both witty and gracious : this 
without prejudice to his episcopal qualities. The honours 
of the episcopal palace were admirably done by the 
Comtesse d'Argout, the bishop's sister. We spent a day 
at Nancy and then went on to Bar, the Prince having 
intimated to the Marshal that he would end his journey 
by a visit to the chief town of the department of the 
Meuse, and that he would stay beneath our roof 

Unfortunately, this roof was only just rebuilt, and every- 
thing was still wanting in the inner arrangement of the 
house. The furniture, or what remained of it, was not 
sufficient to furnish the two storeys, which had been 
ravaged by the fire, and we were barely able to make good 
the deficiency during the two days which we had before- 
hand. Luckily, the furniture of the bedroom and drawing- 
room known as the Emperor's was only somewhat faded. 
We were therefore certain of being able properly to accom- 
modate the Prince during the twenty-four hours he pro- 
mised us. 

The Marshal had invited my mother, my Aunt 
Clotilde de Coucy, and her daughter Zoelie (who has since 
became Mme. de Beaufort) to be with us against the 
Prince's arrival The thought of beholding a Bourbon and 
of assisting me to receive him under our roof had turned 
the heads of my three dear Royalists. 

The streets were full of movement, which overflowed 
into the court-yard and the house itself. There were the 



286 MEMOIRS OF 

authorities ; there were the young ladies with baskets of 
flowers, of course escorted by their parents ; there was my 
family ; there were our friends ; there were the Grenadiers, 
keeping order ; and last of all there were the old emigrants, 
the Knights of Saint Louis, seeking to dispute with the 
last the honour of guarding Monseigneur. 

They had swarmed from every side, these poor old 
men ; they had put on uniform as far as they were able, 
and, encouraged by the ]\Iarshal, had met in his house. 
Certainly, there was something very legitimate and very 
touching in the eagerness of these fine old gentlemen, 
and yet one could hardly restrain a smile on seeing their 
attitudes as, with their bare swords at their shoulders, they 
drew themselves up at the outer door of the drawing-room 
to guard, as they said, their Prince. Those old rusty 
blades, those superannuated uniforms, those antiquated 
faces, mingled and confused with the hundred Grenadiers 
of the Old Guard, the brilliant aides-de-camp of the 
Marshal, the no less elegant of ]\I. le Due de Berry 
(including General de ]\Iontclegicr and the Prince de 
L^on) and a large number of officers who had come 
up from the neighbouring garrisons, personified this 
period of transition, which was perhaps unique in our 
history. 

The Prince, who had made his entry between four and 
five o'clock, amid the movement of which I have spoken, 
at once received with great graciousness all those who filled 
the house. We then sat down to a dinner to which all the 
leading authorities had been invited. At night, the Mar- 



MARSHAL OUDINOT 287 

shal asked Monseigneur to come outside and see the 
illuminations from the doorstep, which, together with all 
the other arrangements, were in the expert hands of M. 
Jacqueminot. 

The next day we were to go to Jeand'heurs, where tables 
were laid along each of the four sides of the grand court- 
yard, and spread with wines, joints, and hams in profusion. 
This was in honour of the detachment of Grenadiers who 
had preceded the Prince, and who were to resume in the 
country the service which they had rendered in the town 
the day before. We arrived at about eleven o'clock in ths 
morning, and breakfast was served at once both in the 
chateau and the courtyard. A joyous tumult reigneJ. 
When he had finished, the Prince had a charming idea : 
accompanied by the Marshal and his staff he left the table, 
and standing on the step, amid the tables of the Grenadiers, 
he lifted his glass and drank to their healths. There issues 
from those formidable voices a " Hurrah ! " which seemed 
to us to be of good augury. A fine autumn sun lit up the 
park, which was radiant. The boats, all dressed with bunt- 
ing, were drawn up before the oak ; the rowers were at 
their posts, and we embarked at once. Monseigneur, on 
the principal boat, took all the ladies with him, M. Jacque- 
minot steering. The second boat contained the Marshal, 
the Prefect, and so forth. The five others followed, 
filled with people. The cannon, the music, all contributed 
to animate the scene ; but it was soon disturbed by an 
incident which filled us with affright. M. Jacqueminot 
with a movement quick as thought, left the rudder, took 



288 MEMOIRS OF 

off his sword and, taking no account of his uniform, leapt 
from the barge into the river, while at the same time my 
step-son Auguste did the same from his father's barge. The 
scarlet uniform of the Chevau-L^gers shone out beneath 
the water, and in no way impeded your brother's move- 
ments ; he gracefully executed all the evolutions of a con- 
summate swimmer, paying no heed to, or not liearing, the 
stentorian words of M. le Due de Berry, who shouted to 
both the rash young men : 

" I order you to get back on board 1 " 

But one of them was no longer in a condition to obey. 
M. Jacqueminot, seized with the cold, painfully and in a 
feeble voice cried : 

" Give me an oar, I am sinking ! " 

Frozen with terror, we who were in the barge almost 
capsized it, owing to the spontaneous movement which 
carried us all towards the side of the drowning man. Only 
one of us retained his presence of mind and made us resume 
our seats, and that was M. le Due de Berry. He held out 
an oar to M. Jacqueminot, who had hardly the strength 
left to seize it, pulled him up to the barge, and taking 
him by the collar, thanks to the strength of his two 
vigorous wrists, hoisted him into the barge, where he lay 
for dead. 

Auguste had climbed back, on his side, full of life and 
animation ; he did not become aware of the terror which he 
had occasioned until he saw the distress upon his father's 
face. Wc were rowed back at quick speed, and soon a 
warm bed and proper care restored the only one of the 



MARSHAL OUDINOT 289 

two who had suffered, so much so that two hours later 
he was able to take leave of the Prince, together with his 
comrades, at the carriage-door. 

The catastrophe of the immersions, which had upset us 
all, put an end to our water-party ; moreover, time was 
passing, and Monseigneur had still to distribute among the 
officers who had come up from every side several Crosses 
of Saint-Louis and of the Legion of Honour. He knighted 
them beneath the fine vaulted ceiling of the drawing-room 
at Jeand'heurs ; it was an imposing sight, and one not easily 
forgotten. General de Castelbajac, one of the Knights, 
could never speak calmly of this solemnity, which well 
suited his fine and noble figure. My uncle, who was at 
that time sous-prefet of Vitry, was also decorated, and 
received under the eyes of his family. I was very pleased 
at this. 

A few weeks later, we returned to Paris, and this winter 
was my real debut in society. Visits, engagements, fetes 
simply rained down upon us. The Marshal used to 
accompany me at first, but he soon grew tired of it, and 
wished me to present myself everywhere alone. I had no 
one to consult, and could only rely upon my good inten- 
tions and upon the principles and examples which my 
good mother had instilled into me. But what was also a 
powerful aid to me was my pride at being the wife of your 
father, who bore so well and so proudly his baton as a 
Marshal of France ! I was proud too of my title taken 
from a foreign duchy, and won abroad at the sword's point. 
T thought that Reggio figured well among the Mont- 



290 MEMOIRS OF MARSHAL OUDINOT 

morencics, the Crillons, the Noailles, and the Perigords. 
Imbued with these reflections, I gradually learnt to occupy 
the place due to your father's wife in this new and brilliant 
world, and this position, which preceded that which I held 
a little later at Court, has, I believe, never left me. 



CHAPTER VIII 

The return from Elba — Oudinot's attitude — He remains faithful to Louis 
XVIII., but his soldiers desert to the Emperor — He receives orders to 
keep to his estate, but is afterwards summoned to Paris — Exchange of 
letters with Marshal Davout — -Oudinot refuses to serve during the 
hundred days— After Waterloo, he is appointed Commander-in-Chief 
of the National Guard — Return of Louis XVIII. — Oudinot's efforts to 
protect the army against the Royalist reaction — His attempt to save 
Marshal Ney — His grief on learning of the execution — The Duchesse de 
Reggio is made Mistress of the Robes to the Duchesse de Berry — Her 
departure to meet the Princess — Portrait of the Duchesse de Berry — The 
presentation— The return journey. 

In mid-winter 1814, Marshal Soult, Due de Dalmatie, who 
was then Minister at War, ordered all the governors to 
go and reside in the centre of their respective commands. 
Your father's, which had Metz for its principal town, was 
one of the most important, both because of its geographical 
position, and because of the presence of the ex-Imperial 
Guard, which was garrisoned at Metz and Nancy. We 
were hardly given time to pack up in Paris and to make 
our arrangements at Metz. 

We took up our quarters at Metz at the large Hotel 
de la Princerie, which we were told was destined for the 
commanders-in-chief, and which did not contain a single 
chair until hasty arrangements had been made by M. Gouy. 
The Marshal desired at once to receive the inhabitants, 
the garrison and the whole province, and I cannot describe 
to you the trouble we were put to, since everything was 



29 z MEMOIRS OF 

unfinished or in ruins. However, by n:iaking many pur- 
chases, and hiring the rest, we were able to keep open table 
almost immediately after our installation. 

Apart from the uniforms, which naturally swarmed at 
our receptions, there were local authorities and notabilities 
without end. I had already met the Prefect, M. de 
Vaublanc, and his wife. My intimacy with M. and Mme. 
Gouy increased ; and they were very useful in initiating me 
into the details of Metz society. I did not know whether 
we were there for a long or a short while, and my continual 
receptions during this provisional period were really be- 
wildering. The remainder of February and the first iev^ 
days of March were spent in this way. The Marshal 
determined to give a great ball, which redoubled my 
occupations as hostess. 

The day for it had arrived, and I was giving a last 
glance at the preparations, and was going to dress, when 
I heard some unexpected news. The Emperor, they said, 
had just disembarked at Cannes, and was marching upon 
Paris with the nucleus of his Klban Guard, which had 
grown like a snow-ball, and was already developing into a 
positive force. I still doubted the truth of the rumour, 
when the Marshal came to my room and confirmed all this 
news, which he had just received by an express from the 
War Office. An express! when the telegraph might have 
been employed to inform him twenty-four hours earlier ! 
And meantime the hour for the ball had come ! 

" You shall dance to-night, my dear," said the Marshal. 
" Vou must keep a good countenance, know nothing, and 



MARSHAL OUDINOT 293 

allow nobody else to know anything. I want the ball to 
be very animated, for while it lasts I shall be holding an 
extraordinary council in my room, consisting of the 
generals and colonels of the garrison and the notables of 
the country." 

Among the colonels was your brother Victor, who 
formed part of the garrison with his fine regiment of the 
1st Hussars. 

Guests came in crowds, and the music and dancing never 
ceased. Refreshments of every kind were handed round 
without stopping. The Marshal had his wish, the ball was 
very animated, and it did not finish till well into the night. 

Greatly agitated because the Marshal had not returned 
to the ball-room, very tired, worn out in body, soul and 
mind, I went to bed without knowing what had happened 
downstairs. There was no time for your father to give me 
long details, for he had received very tardy but very definite 
orders as to the course to pursue He was told to march 
a portion of the Royal Grenadiers and Chasseurs to Langres, 
in order to oppose the progress of the Emperor, who had 
arrived at Grenoble in triumph, and was marching at full 
speed in the direction of Paris. 

The Marshal had no illusions as to the feeling and in- 
tentions of the troops. Nevertheless, he at once took his 
measures, both as to what he was to leave at Metz, the 
most important of our frontier places, and for his march of 
the next day. Though the first news of the Emperor's 
landing had come late, the news of his triumphal march 
followed rapidly enough. With the ministers, anxiety and 



294 MEMOIRS OF 

dread had succeeded to the sort of presumptuous security 
which had greeted the first announcement of the return 
from Elba. And the orders transmitted bore evident signs 
of this perturbation. 

It was, 1 beheve, on this same day that my husband 
received a letter from Marshal Ney which he was glad to 
be able to produce at a later date, on the occasion of the 
latter's distressing trial. I do not know it by heart, but I 
can still, as it were, read these words : 

" Let us unite our efforts," he wrote to Marshal Oudinot, 
"against the aitempts of the common enemy." 

If this is not the exact text, it is at least the sense of the 
message, which was dated from Franche-Comte on the eve 
of the day when Ney turned, at the head of his troops, 
from the King to the Emperor. 

Meantime, unspeakable tumult reigned at the Princerie. 
While the Marshal was despatching to Toul a column of 
his Grenadiers, whom he was to join the same c\'ening, and 
multiplying his arrangements as to what was to be done 
and left undone within the walls of Metz, I gave my ke>s 
to Mme. Gouy, unreservedly surrendering to her the care 
of my house, and prepared to accompany the Marshal, who 
was to put me down at Bar in passing. 

As we were stepping into our carriage, a Ro\-al express 
came up and handed my husband an urgent message. 
This was an autograph letter from Mgr. le Due dc Berry, 
authorizing the Marshal, in the name of His Majest}', to 
proclaim the Royal Grenadiers and Chasseurs as a Royal 
Guard from that moment, a tardy and useless measure, 



MARSHAL OUDINOr 295 

which the Marshal had solicited in vain at a more oppor- 
tune time. 

" Drive to Toul," said the Marshal. 

It was night when we arrived at an hotel in the Place 
d'Armes in that town. It was full of officers ; the principal 
room had been reserved for us, but it was only one room, 
without a corner for me to retire to. Soon, the generals 
arrived by command. Without exactly explaining what 
he might have to say to the troops, my husband asked 
these gentlemen how they would be likely to receive an 
address ending with a " Long live the King ! " 

" Try, and see, monsieur le marechal," said General 
Roguet ; "try, and see." 

The others made no reply. 

" Well, then, give my orders," said the Marshal. " I 
will hold a review at daybreak to-morrow and speak to 
them." 

They had hardly gone out, when General Trommelin 
returned alone. He had seen and heard the Emperor's 
emissaries in the cafes of the town, and had gathered 
unequivocal proofs of the intentions of the officers of all 
ranks. 

" But how about my review of to-morrow ! " said your 
father. " And my cry of " Long live the King ! ' which I 
don't want to compromise. Look here, I must clear up 
this question directly and without delay. Go and tell the 
generals to send me all the officers, from sub-lieutenant to 
colonel : I must speak to them and have done with this 
position." 



296 MEMOIRS OF 

Not long after, a treble row of officers was crammed in 
our room, forming a circle with the Marshal in the centre. 
He waited until they had all taken their places in silence, 
and then expressed himself more or less in the following 
words : 

" Gentlemen, in the circumstances in which we are placed 
I wish to make an appeal to your loyalty. We are 
marching under the white cockade. I am to review 
you to-morrow before our departure : with what cry 
will you and your men reply to my ' Long live the 
King?'" 

These words were followed by absolute silence. Nothing 
so striking ever passed before my eyes. I was hidden 
behind a curtain, and had remained a forced witness 
of this unparalleled scene. Two hotel candles lighted 
it sufficiently to prevent me from losing any of it ; but 
their pale reflection on those manly and gloomy faces 
produced an indescribable effect. This silence, expressive 
though it was, could not be accepted by the Marshal as a 
reply. I saw the storm about to break forth ; each second 
was a century. ... At last the Marshal said : 

" Well, gentlemen .? " 

Then a young officer of inferior rank stepped forward, 
and said : 

" Monsieur le marechal, I am bound to tell you, and no 
one here will contradict me : when you cry, ' Long live the 
King ! ' our men and we will answer, ' Long live the 
ICmpcror ! ' " 

" I thank you, gentlemen," replied the Marshal. Then 



MARSHAL OUDINOT 297 

he bowed to them, and the last of them filed out without 
another word. 

That same day the Marshal drove to Jeand'heurs, where 
he set me down, and the next day he followed his troops, 
who still wore the same colours as himself; for although 
insurrection was undoubtedly in every heart, not a single 
outward sign or breach of discipline had as yet given the 
Commander-in-Chief the right to believe his soldiers to 
belong to the opposite camp. The crisis burst at Chau- 
mont. It was there, at the Prefect's, where my husband 
had just received the news and the positive details of 
Marshal Ney's defection, that his Grenadiers, who had 
arrived before him, sent in word to say that although, 
from personal respect for himself, they had till then retained 
the white cockade, they must warn him that they were 
about to hoist the tricolor and march towards the Em- 
peror under those colours, not to fight him, but to sup- 
port him. They besought him not to leave them, and so 
forth. 

The Marshal's only reply was to take post to Jean- 
d'heurs, where he picked me up, and without stopping took 
me to Metz. Immediately upon his arrival, he declared 
the place in state of siege. The seat of the deliberations 
was naturally the Princerie, where the Marshal was sur- 
rounded by the Prefect, the generals, the superior officers, 
and all the leading men of the country. The proclama- 
tion declaring the city in state of siege was in the King's 
name, and was posted at every corner. Part of the town 
and garrison was seething. What a life I led during those 



298 MEMOIRS OF 

hours which corresponded with the Emperor's entry into 
Paris ! 

My rooms were on the first floor, overlooking the Place 
d'Armes, the whole of the ground-floor belonging to the 
Marshal and his service. I only came down for meals, 
and even then I hardly took time to finish them, so 
tumultuous were they and interrupted. I had gone back 
to my room on the evening of the second day after our 
arrival, and was sitting by the fire reflecting sadly upon the 
events of the day and of those which were to ensue, when 
a vague noise was heard outside, increasing to such an 
extent, as it drew nearer, that I went to my window and 
saw the whole of the Place d'Armes literally covered 
with people. Distracted with fear, I went down to my 
husband, whom I found receiving the reports of a number 
of terrified people, who announced a most decided dis- 
turbance. 

" Well," said the Marshal, " what do they think .' What 
do they want .'' " 

" Some say that M. le Due de Berry is here, and that 
you have declared the city in state of siege in order to 
keep a refuge for him ; others say that )-ou mean to open 
the gates to the Prussians." 

These words were received with cold disdain ; and the 
Marshal only said to me : 

" Go back, my dear, and staj' in your room." 

With my face glued to ni\- wiiulow and my ears 
pricked up, I saw and listened to the ri>)t, which rose like 
the surge of the sea. They threatened to force the gates 



MARSHAL OUDINOT 299 

of the house. The Marshal went down and mingled with 
the crowd ; he spoke, and was listened to. During this 
time, an attempt was made to divide the crowd and make 
it separate peacefully ; but how difficult it was to persuade 
the troops to put down a clamour which expressed their 
own sentiments ! 

Colonel Oudinot's regiment, a model of discipline, was 
still perfectly obedient to its chief, and took a large part 
in the allaying of the riot. Their measures were partly 
seconded by the lateness of the hour and the badness of 
the weather. The Marshal's guard was trebled, and he 
spent the whole night in receiving all kinds of reports and 
giving endless orders. 

When the morning came, the town was still disturbed, 
but seemed less threatening. I did not leave my window. 
Towards mid-day I heard an increased noise, but this 
time they were shouts of joy ; all heads were upraised, and 
following their direction, I saw that they were hoisting in 
front of me, upon the topmost tower of the cathedral, the 
tricolor flag. . . . All was over ! The Marshal's authority 
was disowned ; there was nothing left for him to do but 
go away. Moreover, the King had abandoned the seat of 
government without giving any directions, of whatever kind, 
to your father. Since the tardy and futile letter of the Due 
de Berry, relating to the Grenadiers, he had not received a 
single order emanating from the Bourbons. In all that he 
had done he had been prompted solely by his duty towards 
them ; and this duty he had loyally fulfilled. And thus, 
when he saw with his eyes those three colours which had 



300 MEMOIRS OF 

once been so dear to him, and which he could not now 
salute, he gave orders for his immediate departure. We 
left that evening, escorted from the town by Colonel 
Oudinot's Hussars. No hostile demonstration came, 
to our knowledge, to add to the sadness of this fresh 
journey. 

It was a strange and contradictory position in which 
your father found himself placed, obliged to Avithdraw 
before the glorious flag for which he had fought victoriously 
for twenty years of his life. Ah, how cruel it was ! But 
he had been relieved by the Emperor's first abdication 
from his oath to the three colours ; and as he had accepted 
the command of Metz under the white flag, he was bound 
not to leave under any other emblem. 

On leaving Metz, Oudinot wrote the following 
letter to the new Minister for War, his old comrade 
Marshal Davout : 

" Metz, March 1S15. 

" Unable and unwilling to play a double part, I am 
leaving Metz in order to repair to ]Lir-sur-Ornain, my 
residence. I will leave General Duruth in command of the 
3rd Division. This general ofificcr will fill the post capably 
and trustworthily. 

" I only ask one thing of }-ou, ni}' dear minister, and that 
is not to enquire into my means of existence. I will sell 
the little I possess to pay the more delicate portion of my 
debts. Prevent any one from spying into my mode of life, 



MARSHAL OUDINOT 301 

and tell them that Oudinot, in the midst of his unhappiness, 
is incapable of an act of perfidy. 

" Your friend, 

{Signed) " MARSHAL Oudinot." 

This letter probably crossed the following appeal 
from Davout : 

« War Office, 

" Paris, 21 March 1815. 

" My dear marshal, 

"You must know and have learnt from published 
documents the nature of recent events and their results. 

" All Frenchmen must rally to prevent civil war and 
drive back the foreigner. There is no need to recall these 
sentiments to the heart of an Oudinot. I am informed 
by a general whom we both hold in esteem that, when 
separated from the Guard at Chaumont, your one plan was 
to bring back to the frontier places already threatened and 
coveted from abroad the troops which you had set in 
movement in another direction. In this resolution not 
under any pretext to suffer an invasion of French territory, 
I recognized your devotion to the commoit interests of the 
country. The orders which I shall transmit to you from 
the Emperor will have no other motive or object. I long, 
both as your friend and as a minister, to give, or rather to 
repeat to you this assurance. 

" Kind regards. 

(Signed) "MARSHAL Prince d'Eckmuhl." 



302 ^MEMOIRS OF' 

Oudinot replied to this appeal : 

"Metz, March i8iS- 
" My dear marshal, 

"You were right in believing that in returning to 
my strongholds I had no other object than that of pre- 
serving France and employing every means to prevent the 
foreigner from entering, even in small numbers. His 
threats on the frontier have led me to declare them in 
state of siege, after taking the advice of the civil and 
military notables, who have unanimously decided, in as- 
sembly, that there was a case of urgency. 

" I am thus hedged in amidst parties, and in a position 
difficult to sustain owing to the divergence of opinions. 
Providence and their confidence will save me, I hope, 
from this pass. As to my principles, you know them, my 
friend, and you will never compromise yourself by answer- 
ing for them ; for they are as pure as the actions of my 
whole life. 

" Speaking of this, I have received a curious letter from 
General Loison : he informs me, among other things, that 
the Emperor, remembering my old and loyal services, 
forgets the past. 

"Ah! I ask m)'sclf what the Emperor can have to 
reproach me with ; for, besides my whole conduct during 
his reign, my constant fidelity can have left him nothing 
to desire from me. Since then, I am faithful to my new 
master There is therefore no occasion to hint at a pardon 
which, for that matter, I would never wish for, had I been 



MARSHAL OUDINOT 303 

for an instant guilty. My existence would be a burden to 
me if it were stained with one dishonourable fault. On the 
other hand, my friend, I will never commit a baseness to 
recover an esteem which is due to me. Remember this ; 
and should I have to drag the remainder of my life in 
misery, I shall always be Grenadier Oudinot, a title which 
will never cease to delight me. 

" In any case, my dear minister, write to me and believe 
that, whatever the events which the future may have in 
store for me, I shall know how to die as I have lived. 

" Your old friend, 

{Signed) "MARSHAL OUDINOT." 

We travelled all night in the direction of Paris, where 
the Marshal wished to go without delay to explain his 
position to the Emperor, and to beg him to understand 
it and leave him, in good faith, to the repose of his fields. 
We had passed la Ferte-sous-Jouarre, when we saw a 
general officer, mounted on a post-nag, ride up to our 
carriage, which pulled up. 

" Ah, is that you, Trommelin ? " asked the Marshal. 

" Yes, monseigneur ; I bring you a despatch from the 
Imperial Minister for War." 

" Davout .? " 

" I asked to be allowed to bring it." 

" Is it an order of exile .'' " asked the Marshal. 

"Yes, and it is that I might explain the motive to you 
and put it to you in a less harsh light, that I begged and 
obtained leave to be the bearer." 



304 MEMOIRS OF 

A shed stood by the road side. " Let us get down here," 
said the Marshal, and in a (e\w moments we were listening 
to the comments of poor General Trommelin, who was 
unable to make any change in the principal fact, which 
was that an order to withdraw to his estates had been 
addressed to the Marshal in the name of the Emperor by 
the Minister for War. 

Here is the text of the letter written by Davout : 

" War Office, 

"Paris, 26 March 1S15. 
" Monsieur le marechal, 

" I am commanded to express to you the Emperor's 
dissatisfaction at all that was done at Metz to prevent the 
inhabitants from knowing what was happening in France, 
and to suppress the patriotic ardour of the people and the 
soldiery, and also at your permitting the Prefect to publish 
declarations of the Congress throughout the town. 

" His Majesty desires that you should retire to your 
estates in Lorraine until new orders. 

" I have the honour, &c., 

{Signed) "MARSII.VL PiaXCE D'ECKMUIIL, 
" Minister for War." 

"He is very angry with me, no doubt.'" asked the 
Marshal. 

"Yes, yes, but he will calm down." 

" lie has anticipated me, for I was going to tell him that 



MARSHAL OUDINOT 



305 



I asked nothing of him," rephed your father. " No matter ; 
good-bye, Trommelin ; drive on." 

The postilHons faced about, we took a few hours' rest at 
la Ferte-sous-Jouarre, and the next day we were at Jean- 
d'heurs. As in all the trials of his life, my husband had 
shown, during these first moments, the most remarkable 
moral force and correctness of judgment ; but it did not take 
long to see that this new position of a suspect to the powers 
that ruled his country would be a difficult one for him to 
undergo. Sadness was not familiar to him ; if a few passing 
clouds .came and obscured his brow, he soon accepted dis- 
traction, and everybody resumed his serenity when he had 
recovered his. But this time he remained bent beneath the 
weight of his preoccupations, and this burden which I bore 
with him, without delivering him from it, was very heavy 
upon me too. 

Meanwhile France was in a ferment. The King, Mon- 
sieur and M. le Due de Berry had gone to Belgium, after 
disbanding their Military Households. M. le Due d'Angou- 
leme was valiantly striving to defend his cause in the 
province from which he took his title. But in the East 
they swore only by the Emperor. The majority had fallen 
absolutely under the influence of the prestige attached to 
his name ; but our district, which was entirely a military 
one and naturally Imperialist, did not give a fair idea of 
the opinion of the mass of the population, which caught a 
new glimpse of a foreign war. The Congress of Vienna 
was still sitting. We were represented at it by M. le 
Prince de Talleyrand ; and surely he, the intermediary of 



3o6 MEMOIRS OF 

the Bourbons in 1814, was not likely to attenuate the 
demands of the Allies upon the Emperor in 181 5. 

However, five or six days after the Marshal's exile to 
Jeand'heurs, M. Jacqueminot came travelling express. He 
had left Metz as the Marshal's aide-de-camp, and returned 
a week later with the appointment from the Emperor as 
colonel of a regiment of Lancers. Let us hasten to add, 
however, that his first thought in this new situation had 
carried him towards his former chief, and that, knowing 
that the Emperor desired to see him, he had begged to be 
allowed to carry the order of recall, which for the time he 
regarded as a great happiness. 

The Marshal left for Paris, leaving me provisionally at 
Jeand'heurs with his son Auguste. Many casualties had 
already impeded his youthful career. Destined to be a page 
of the Emperor, this plan was upset in 18 14. In i8i5hehad 
entered the Chevau-Legers, and had just seen his company 
disbanded. For the moment he had no other reminder 
of his status than an Imperial order of exile against all that 
composed the King's Household, which was not to approach 
within thirty leagues of Paris. 

My husband sent us his news. A few moments after his 
arrival in the Rue de Bourgogne, he received a visit from 
General Bertrand, who had come to fetch him from the 
Emperor. The latter, on seeing your father, went up to him 
and said, in a tone that was half ironical and half severe : 

" Well, Monsieur le Due de Reggio ! and what have the 
liourbons done more for }-ou than I, to make )ou want to 
defend them so finely against my approach ? " 



MARSHAL OUDINOT 



307 



The Marshal's reply was ready to hand ; he had nothing 
to deny and nothing to excuse ; and it was received favour- 
ably as a request for inaction of which the reason was well 
understood. 

" I will serve no one, since I shall not serve you, Sire," said 
the Marshal. " I shall remain in my retirement ; but pray 
have sufficient confidence in me not to have me spied on by 
your police. I could not endure that." 

With this the interview ended. A few days later the 
Marshal dined with the Emperor, but they did not see each 
other again alone. 

Meantime everything was assuming a fierce aspect, and 
even in our peaceful valley of the Saulx the population 
were becoming both suspicious and hostile. I besought the 
Marshal to let Auguste and me come to him ; he consented, 
and after taking some measures of safety for our houses at 
Bar and Jeand'heurs, we set out for Paris. The excitement 
was great all along our road, which was covered with the 
extraordinary levies which the Emperor was urging on. I 
dared not face that movement at night, nor .was I much 
easier in my room at an inn. The appearance of Paris did 
not tend to calm me. The federals from the suburbs had 
been reviewed that morning by the Emperor, and this had 
increased the general ferment. 

We found the Marshal in company with Victor, who had 
been replaced in command of the ist Hussars. Thus my 
husband and his two sons found themselves in a state of 
forced inaction at a time when all were under arms ! 
For men of their temperament this was a bitter trial. 



3o8 MEMOIRS OF 

And then what divisions in parties and even families ! 
General Comte Pajol had embraced the side of the Empire. 
General Comte de Lorencez had remained faithful to the 
Restoration, like the Marshal and his sons. 

We decided to hire a small place in the valley of Mont- 
morency. We had need of air and silence ; these prepara- 
tions, these rumours of war, of a war threatening our native 
soil, which seemed on the other side to be destined to be 
torn by civil war in the West, were more than the three 
Oudinots could endure. The present was almost insupport- 
able, and the future offered no probable compensation. 
In spite of the reforms in our household, the sale of our 
carriages, part of my diamonds, and so on, we had hardly 
enough to suffice for the needs of the moment. 

We went about almost the whole day, mostly on foot, 
sometimes on donkeys. This mode of locomotion was a 
novelty for the Marshal, and sometimes provoked a smile 
from him. It was cherry-time ; and we often went and 
robbed the fine trees of the valley, although never omitting 
to pay for our depredations. We were all young, and this 
life possessed a charm for all of us during the first few daj's. 

Meantime the Kmperor had set out to take command 
of the army which he had so promptly organized. The 
first blow was to be struck in Belgium ; and so soon as 
we were able to calculate that the time for this blow 
had come, our anxiety resumed the upper hand. We 
eagerly awaited the news of the fighting. This was at 
first favourable, ha\-ing reference to the engagement at 
I'lcurus. Two days passed b)-, and on the third, as we were 



MARSHAL OUDINOT 309 

sitting down to breakfast, we saw first M, de Bourcet and 
then M. du Plessy come up, who told us in a few words 
the story of Waterloo ! 

The terrible consequences of this event at once presented 
thennselves to the Marshal, who, without yet making up his 
mind as to what he should do, set out immediately for 
Paris with his two sons and his officers, leaving to me the 
care of settling our accounts and moving. It was night 
when I returned to Paris, a night in June. Nothing seemed 
to augment the usual movement of the town at this season, 
and I learnt on my arrival in the Rue de Bourgogne that 
the excitement had centred round the Chamber of Deputies, 
which had declared its sitting permanent. I also learnt 
that the Emperor had arrived not at the Tuileries but at 
the Elysee-Bourbon ; that he was talking of a new abdica- 
tion, but this time in favour of the King of Rome, asking 
for himself the command as General-in-Chief of the rem- 
nants of the army which would have to be opposed with- 
out delay to the victorious enemy advancing upon 
Paris. 

The Emperor cannot have long retained his illusions on 
the chances of power which remained to him ; because in 
1 81 5 it was much less the wish of the nation than of the 
army that had brought him back from Elba. 

During the days of excitement which preceded the return 
of the King, the Marshal had sent Victor to Belgium. His 
errand was to learn from the King if the proposal made in 
the Chamber of Deputies to give Marshal Oudinot the 
command of the National Guard of the Seine was agree- 



3IO MEMOIRS OF 

able to His Majesty. This proposal was accepted, but 
it was not put into execution until October. It was 
these wise and devoted troops which alone maintained 
order and dignity in Paris during the influx of the invading 
armies. It had much to do, notably at the Clichy barriers, 
which the more zealous among the Royalists desired to 
force in order to go to Saint-Denis during the King's stay 
there, a stay devoted to treating peacefully, if possible. 
Auguste, in his capacity as a Chevau-Leger, had succeeded, 
with some difificulty, in reaching Saint-Denis and presenting 
himself to the King. With my husband's consent I took 
the same step, together with the INIarquise du Roure, and 
soon Louis XVIII. received us with truly paternal affability. 
All his circle welcomed me with the greatest kindness. 
The Marshal had paid his visit to Saint-Denis earlier. 
The King had awarded him the most flattering reception ; 
and this was only justice. 

The 8th of July was fixed for the King's fresh entry into 
Paris. At noon, the Marshal in uniform, followed by his 
aides-de-camp, set out on horseback from the Rue de 
Bourgogne for Saint-Denis. During the long drive, there 
reigned a sort of gloomy tranquillity which gave food for 
reflection at the moment of a significant event, occurring in 
Paris, always so full of life. The Marshal has since told 
me that he was not free from anxiety respecting the march 
of the procession. When the King appeared, all were able 
to see that he showed himself calm and smihng as in the 
past. In the evening there were public fetes. 

The Emperor had retired to Mahnaison, where he lived 



MARSHAL OUDINOT 311 

disarmed and powerless, from the force of things. How 
great must his moral sufferings have been ! But it must 
be admitted that at this moment of reaction, when all 
personal interests were at stake, the general attention was 
for a while turned away from him. His departure, his 
journey, and even his embarkation upon the English ship, 
the Belierophon, did not at first attract public attention. It 
was not until later, when people had heard of his magni- 
ficent letter to the British Government, and had seen the 
manner in which that government had abused the con- 
fidence placed in them by a disarmed enemy, that the re- 
membrance of many and the sympathy of some returned 
to the illustrious exile. 

The Allies entered Paris shortly after the King, and laid 
hands upon the military command of the place as in time of 
war. I have seen a bivouac of Prussians in the Carrousel ; 
I have seen the English in the Champs-Elysees and in the 
Bois de Boulogne, which was in part destroyed to keep 
up their bivouac fires. There was not a French uniform 
to be seen in Paris. The National Guard alone did duty, 
conjointly with the foreign troops. 

The Marshal resumed his place as Minister of State, and 
his office continued to be besieged every morning by those 
who were occupied with him in the interests of govern- 
ment and those who came to him with requests or 
complaints. My mother, who had joined us at the com- 
mencement of the second invasion, had since settled at 
Versailles with the Gueriviere children. 

It was at this time that the Chamber of Deputies was 



312 MEMOIRS OF 

revived. Your father was appointed chairman of the 
electoral college of the Meuse. What sometimes gave us 
great sorrow, in the midst of our personal satisfaction, 
was the state of minds, which seemed to grow excited 
rather than calmer since the restoration of the Royal 
Government. I doubt whether the unhappy Colonel de 
la Bc'doyere was paler than I was, when I heard of his 
condemnation. I knew that he left behind him a young 
wife whom he adored, a child in the cradle, and a family 
in despair. I learnt later that, when he reached the place 
of execution, he gave the order to fire, and ordered them 
to aim at his heart, on which spot was later found the 
shattered portrait of his wife. 

On his return from the elections, the Marshal resumed 
his busy life in Paris. He endeavoured to bring his 
influence to bear upon the Princes in favour of clemency ; 
he always found an echo in their hearts, but too many 
diverse elements mingled in the government for the 
Marshal's v/ork always to bear fruit. No one has ever 
known or ever will know all that your father has said, 
particularly in favour of the army ; but God knows it, and 
that is a great consolation. It was with profound sorrow 
that he saw the lists of proscriptions following upon one 
another. 

Towards the end of the summer, the armies of the 
Allies were removed from Paris and ordered to different 
parts of the country. In this distribution, our poor 
Lorraine was not spared. It bore this enormous charge 
for about three years. Each day the Allies gave fresh 



MARSHAL OUDINOT 313 

proofs of their ill-will. They despoiled our museums ; they 
sought means to destroy the monuments which com- 
memorated our victories over them. One day, among 
others, I saw the Marshal return from the Council in a 
state of great excitement. I do not know what fly more 
spiteful than usual had bitten the ferocious Bliicher, who 
was commanding-in-chief in Paris ; but the King was 
suddenly interrupted in the midst of his work, and told 
that the Prussian general was preparing on his own 
authority to blow up the Pont d'lena. 

"Go and tell him," replied Louis XVIII., "that I only 
beg him to give me time to come and place myself upon 
that monument before he destroys it." 

The bridge was respected. 

A second visit which the Czar Alexander paid us 
enabled us to judge that, although he had had reserved 
the same feelings for the Marshal as in the preceding 
year, he looked at France in a very different light. Oh, 
how cold he had grown concerning the interests of our 
poor country ! And yet it was to him that the country 
was indebted in that it was not still worse treated and 
even perhaps divided. . . . He had not announced his 
visit this time, and he found the Marshal and me alone. 
It was during this intimate and unconstrained interview 
that he impressed us with the opinions which I have 
uttered above. 

About the middle of October, there called upon us, in 
the Rue de Bourgogne, M. de Vaublanc, the former 
Prefect of Metz, who had since become Minister of the 



314 MEMOIRS OF 

Interior. After a short conversation in the drawing-room, 
he asked to speak to the Marshal alone in his study. He 
entered and came out again without laying aside a certain 
solemnity of which I soon possessed the enigma. The 
Minister had come in the King's name to oftcr your father 
the command-in-chief of the National Guard of Paris and 
the surrounding districts. Your father hesitated ; the post 
did not seem to agree with his tastes and habits ; and yet 
the position was a splendid one. 

In the end, and after much urging on the part of the 
King, the ministers and his own friends, the Marshal 
yielded, and towards the end of October we bade good- 
bye for ever to our dear little house in the Rue de 
Bourgogne, in order to instal ourselves in the staff-offices 
of the National Guard, in the Rue Grange-Bateliere, which 
had formerly been the town-house of the Due de Choiseul, 
Louis XV,'s minister. It was a vast and superbly furnished 
mansion, A numerous establishment, kept up like all the 
rest at the expense of the city of Paris, filled the entrance- 
halls (there were two entrances) in their capacit)* as con- 
cierges, ushers, office-messengers, and so on, while the 
drawing-rooms were made brilliant b\' a numerous staff, 
which was always on service by turns. Guard-posts en- 
livened the court-yards by day and night. One of these 
posts was for the principal entrance, the other for the Rue 
le Pelletier. They communicated, for the performance of 
the service both by day and night, b\' an underground 
passage whicii ran beneath my private apartments. There 
was a perpetual movement. 



MARSHAL OUDINOT 315 

All who were able to rally usefully to the exclusive 
service of the National Guard had hastened to us. The 
Marshal numbered on his staff, and among the aides-de- 
camp wearing this uniform, celebrated names of every 
kind. Those of the Faubourg Saint-Germain constituted 
the majority. Among the twelve legions of infantry were 
several commanded by a Montmorency, a La Roche- 
foucauld, and so on. The cavalry had at its head the 
proud and noble Due de Fitz- James, one of the King's most 
devoted and enlightened servants. He had under his 
orders such names as Caumont, Boisgelin, and kindred 
families. 

So soon as we were installed, the Marshal issued a per- 
manent invitation to his table for breakfast and dinner 
to the officers in command of the guard-posts, and this 
independently of the aides-de-camp and so forth. Eleven 
years were spent by me in this company ; and this is not 
said by way of complaint, because, apart from the good 
worked by this incessant fusion, I thus met at my table a 
vast number of personalities whom it was interesting to 
know. Magistrates, financiers, artists, authors, poets, cele- 
brated actors, all Paris of that time passed in review before 
my eyes; and as on the whole I had never been accustomed 
to domestic tete-a-tetes, this overflow of guests, of which 
the Marshal seemed never to weary, inconvenienced me 
in no way. 

There was much question of establishing a Royal Guard. 
The first elements were to be taken from the brave old 
remnants which had been so disastrously exiled behind 



3i6 MEMOIRS OF 

the Loire at the commencement of the first Restoration, 
The Marshal was to receive one of the four commands 
which it was proposed to create, and which were to succeed 
each other every quarter, of these picked troops. The 
holders were soon appointed : they were Marshals Oudinot, 
Macdonald, Victor and Marmont. 

But while the government very properly tried to reor- 
ganize itself on a strong footing, very regrettable facts 
continued to take place and to be foreshadowed. No day 
passed without its political trial ! I went to bed one night 
heart-broken at the sentence of death passed upon the 
Comte de La Valette, who was to be guillotined the next 
day upon the Place de Greve for having actively worked 
against the Restoration and delivered State secrets to the 
Elban conspirators. I did not know him at all, but I 
thought of his wife and children. How great was my relief 
when I learnt in the morning that he had made good 
his escape ! 

We were less fortunate in the matter of Marshal Ney, 
that ever deplorable aftair. I have told you of the letter 
which he wrote to the Marshal, on the eve of his defection. 
Though the terms in which it was couched proved his 
fickleness, they justified him at least against any charge 
of premeditation. Full of confidence in the usefulness of 
this document for the purposes of the trial, my husband 
had hastened to hand it to the marcchale, and heartily 
congratulated himself upon in this way becoming a witness 
for the defence of his unfortunate companion-in-arms. The 
length of the trial was an agony to the ALirshal. The last 



MJRSHAL OUDINOT 317 

of these unhappy days arrived and passed without any 
news coming from the Luxembourg ; the verdict was not 
pronounced until night : a sleepless night, alas ! We still 
hoped in the Royal clemency ; but before daybreak, Victor 
came to share his grief with us and to tell us that all would 
soon be over, and that the marshal was to be shot on the 
Place de I'Observatoire. 

It seems hardly credible, my children ! But among a 
large number of well-intentioned people, who had till then 
been always humane and kind, there had arisen a fatal 
agreement to do violence to the King's inclinations and to 
persuade him that his Crown depended upon his showing 
no mercy this time . . . And yet an act of clemency 
would have been the most politic act of this renewal of 
the reign, and in my family we did not wait for long 
years to pass before taking this view. 

I wish I could wipe out from my memory the remarks I 
heard uttered, both on this event, the most notable of all, 
and on many others that occurred about this time. 
Women, women especially, who took so great a part, un- 
fortunately, in the politics of the time, often uttered fero- 
cious phrases. These roused my indignation and pained 
me to the core ; and it was from this period that dated my 
horror of all party spirit. 

The King had promised the Marshal to be the god-father 
of the child we were expecting. The Due de Choiseul, 
who was then Chief of Staff of the National Guard of the 
Seine, under my husband's orders, on learning this news, 
said to me, as he was dining with me one day : 



3i8 MEMOIRS OF 

" That is excellent, madame : but you should have the 
whole city of Paris for god-mother, that is clear. Do not 
laugh, madame la duchcsse ; it would be both becoming 
and charming." 

This led to no result, however, and the choice which the 
King made of ]\Ime. la Duchesse d'Angouleme for god- 
mother left me no cause for regret. The baptism of 
Louise was celebrated in the chapel of the Tuileries, where 
her Royal god-father, Louis XVIII., and her saintly god- 
mother, Mme. la Duchesse d'Angouleme, attended in 
person. The administration of the sacrament was en- 
trusted to the Grand Almoner of France, His Eminence 
Cardinal de Talleyrand-Perigord. 

The Due de Choiseul was succeeded as Chief of Staff by 
the Due de Mortemart, a brave and worthy friend, whose 
noble heart beat with all the honour which befitted his 
lofty birth. He became closely attached, in thought and 
friendship, to the Marshal, for whom he always kept up, 
and still keeps up, a real cult. 

Meanwhile, the projected Royal Guard came to be 
realized. It was decided during the winter that the King 
should hold a review in the Carrousel and in the court-yard 
of the Tuileries, and it was considered that the National 
Guard, which had till then executed the service of Paris 
since the final occupation by the enemy, ought also to 
receive from the Sovereign, on the same da)', a mark of 
gratitude and remembrance. 

We reached the end of March. I had gcMie one evening 
to ni}' husband's stml\- and, alone with him, I was enjoying 



MARSHAL OUDINOT 319 

one of those opportunities for unrestrained conversation 
which were so precious to both of us, and which the 
multitude of our occupations caused to become so rare. 
Suddenly the door was opened by two of our intimates, 
the Due de Fitz-James and the Comte de la Ferronnays. 
The latter, so soon as he entered, took my husband by his 
arm and led him to his room, while the other, sitting down 
by my side before the fire, began to jest on all sorts of 
subjects, as was usual with him. I was laughing heartily 
when the others returned. 

" You will never guess," said my husband, " what M. de 
la Ferronnays has just come and proposed for you." 

"All that comes from him must be good to accept," I 
replied, without being in the least able to guess what 
they wanted of me. 

" Tell her all," said M. de la Ferronnays. . 

Thereupon they both went away. 

"Well," said my husband, " M. le Due de Berry, who 
is to marry a princess of Naples, seventeen years of age, 
offers you the post of Mistress of the Robes." 

I was taken aback, and wept 

" But reflect," said the Marshal, " that at your age it is a 
fine thing, it is an exceptional thing, to receive such a mark 
of confidence and esteem." 

" What more have I to wish for, to satisfy all my pride, 
than to be your wife ? " I cried. " I confess I look with 
dread at the idea of our freedom being fettered, our home 
abandoned. I see before me a gilded slavery, but a slavery 
nevertheless. However, my friend, does it suit you ?" 



320 MEMOIRS OF 

" Impossible to refuse," said my husband. 

I accepted, therefore, since I had to. The Marshal 
wished me to go at once and thank the King. 

"I have approved this appointment," said His Majesty, 
" but it was not I who made it ; my nephew selected his 
bride's Household himself. It is a great business to be a 
Mistress of the Robes," he continued. 

I looked at the King ; he had an air of being so pene- 
trated with the importance of my functions that he set the 
climax to my flutter. It was in this condition that I went 
downstairs to M. le Due de Berry. He thanked me 
effusively for accepting. His expressions were filled with 
gratitude and were almost respectful. I asked him when 
he expected the Princess. 

" Alas ! " he said, " I have only two months more of 
liberty." 

I looked at him in surprise. 

*' Do not be astonished at my melancholy, madame la 
duchesse," he said. " I am only marrying from a sense 
of obligation ; I only know my betrothed by a portrait 
which makes her look very ugly. No matter, the die is 
cast, and the dear child shall never know what it costs me 
to submit to the yoke." 

I had to receive the successive visits of the persons who 
composed with me the young Princess's Household. Here 
is the list, in hierarchical order. I am bound to place my- 
self first : 

Mistress of the Robes, the Marechale Duchesse de 
Reggie ; First Lady of the Bedchamber, the Comtesse 



MARSHAL OUDINOT 321 

de la Ferronays ; six ladies-in-waiting : the Vicomtesse 
de Gontaut-Biron, the Comtesse Frangois de Bouille ; 
the Marquise de Bethisy ; the Comtesse d'Hautefort ; 
the Marquise de Gourgues ; the Comtesse de Lauriston. 

Then came the gentlemen : 

The Due de Levis (author of the Maximes, &c.), First 
Lord-in-Waiting ; the Comte de Mesnard, First Groom ; 
the Marquis de Sassenay, private secretary. 

First Bedchamber-Woman, Mme. de Wathaire. I will 
not mention the names of the bedchamber-women-in- 
ordinary, nor of the rest of the establishment of the third 
class. 

In accordance with the ceremonial which was adopted at 
the time of the marriage of Mme. la Duchesse de Bour- 
gogne, the general impulse was supposed to be given to 
the Princess's Household by the Mistress of the Robes, 
the responsible editor, as it were, of all public cere- 
monial. This is what the King had wished to convey 
to me when he looked me between the eyes on the occasion 
of my recent audience and said, " It is a great business to 
be a Mistress of the Robes." Soon after, the Marquis de 
Dreux-Breze, Grand Master of the Ceremonies, sent me a 
long chart containing my instructions, drawn up by him- 
self, and confirming the extent and the multiplicity of details 
of my task. To my great regret, I have been quite unable 
to find this very curious official document, from which, on 
my own responsibility, I struck out a number of super- 
annuated items, which it would have been worse than 
useless to keep up in our day ; but there remained quite 



322 MEMOIRS OF 

enough to keep me occupied in the essential part, of which 
I omitted nothing. 

I was recommended, and I thought it in good taste, to 
go and visit Mme. la Duchesse de Duras, who had been 
Mistress of the Robes to Queen Marie Leczinska. Her 
great age kept her away from society. She received me 
very well. Very tall, and wearing a great black head- 
dress, she cast upon me a not unkindly, but very searching 
glance. She gave me many hints on the powers and 
attributes of a mistress of the robes, things which have 
since been modified by time ; as did also Mme. la 
Duchesse de Vauguyon, who had been attached to the 
service of Madame Elisabeth. 

The young Princess was married by procuration at 
Naples, her paternal uncle, the Prince of Salerno, repre- 
senting the bridegroom ; and the time was drawing near 
for her departure for Marseilles, where we were to arrive in 
time for her landing and for what was known as the remise, 
that is to say the handing over of tlie Princess by the 
Neapolitan Ambassador to the French Ambassador, who 
would fulfil his mission at our head. 

A number of the Household were sent on in advance : 
Mmes. de la Fcrronays, de Gontaut and de Bouille ; Messrs 
de Levis and de Mesnard ; two officers of the Gardes du 
Corps ; a master of the ceremonies ; an almoner. All 
these were to wait indefinitely at Marseilles. They came 
to take leave of me before starting. I also had orders to 
give to all the waiting-women who followed each other in 
my apartments, which were crowded with a multitude of 



MARSHAL OUDINOT 323 

tradespeople, who brought me articles of the toilet with 
which I was obliged to supply myself in order that every- 
thing might be ready when, at the last moment, I too 
should have to set out. 

For the first time in my life I was about to under- 
take, far from my husband and without his assistance 
or advice, an entirely new life, one depending upon my 
sheer initiative, and strewn with pit-falls. I was about to 
endeavour to subject to my will, to my advice, an un- 
known personality, who on her side would perhaps dis- 
play certain caprices to which I should be unable to 
yield ; and it was to these possibilities that I was sacri- 
ficing my domestic joys, which had been so greatly 
increased a few weeks ago by the birth of my youngest 
child! But it was inevitable; and on the nth of May 
1 8 16, my husband put me into my carriage. I was all 
in tears. With me was good Mme. Cossa, my new maid ; 
two of our domestics rode on the box, and in front of the 
carriage rode a courier in the Royal livery, to order post- 
horses. I was too nervous, and still too weak after my 
confinement, to be able to travel at night. 

I was compelled therefore to sleep at an hotel each 
night ; but this was my only delay, with the exception ot 
an excursion which I made at Vaucluse, whence I drove 
with the Prefect, the Comte de Saint-Chamans, and his 
sister, the Comtesse de Lambertye, to visit the Castle of 
the Popes at Avignon. Nevertheless, to my great regret 
and annoyance, this was sufhcient to make me late at my 
journey's end. I had just passed Aix when I saw dashing 



324 MEMOIRS OF 

up a courier all covered with white ribands. He was 
smacking his whip, and seemed bathed in perspiration. 
He stopped before my carriage and told me that he had 
come to announce the landing of Mme. la Duchesse de 
Berry, who had come into port safely, and had been 
received at the Lazaretto. Full of disappointment, I 
hastened on at full speed to Marseilles. M. le Comte de 
Villeneuve, the eldest of the five brothers bearing the 
name, came to receive me and to show me to the room 
which was prepared for me. It was adjacent to that 
which the Princess was to occupy on her arrival at the 
Prefect's. He confirmed what the courier had told me. 

"We received Her Royal Highness," he added, "as 
nearly as the inexorable rules of quarantine would permit. 
Our boats rowed out to the frigate in which she made the 
voyage, and escorted her to the foot of the Lazaretto stairs. 
She took up her abode there with none but her Neapolitan 
suite, with the sole exception of I\Ime. la Comtcsse de la 
Ferronnays, who has been locked up with her." 

"But," I asked, "cannot I also be admitted into the 
Lazaretto .'' " 

" It is too late, madame," replied the Prefect ; " you 
would be obliged to remain twenty-four hours after the 
others had gone, since the rule is that every one must 
complete the prescribed ten days." 

I must needs wait ; and the next morning I sent in my 
name to the young Princess, who soon appeared behind the 
grating which separated the two rooms in which we were. 
We were each of us watched by warders belonging to the 



MARSHAL OUDINOT 325 

Lazaretto service. Their sombre faces and gloomy cos- 
tumes reminded me of the pictures of the plague of 1720 
and 1 72 1. This recollection contrasted strangely with the 
joyful mission which I had to fulfil ; but soon recovering 
myself, I was about to place in the hands of the young 
bride, who seemed to me charmingly white and pink, the 
letters which the French Royal Family had given me for 
her, when I was suddenly stopped by one of the severe 
guardians of whom I have spoken, and obliged to deposit 
my despatches upon a table on the other side of the grating, 
where the Princess came and took them. This was to avoid 
any personal contact between her and me. 

Mme. la Duchesse de Berry was not pretty, but there 
was an air of extreme youth about her whole person which 
disposed one in her favour. She was only seventeen, and 
did not look more than fifteen. This explained, in the 
eyes of the French population which she had to pass 
through, the timid silence with which she accepted the 
harangues and demonstration with which she was received 
along the journey from Marseilles to Paris. 

We arranged for my daily visits to the Lazaretto, and 
the time which was left to me at the Prefect's was devoted 
to the thousand preliminaries connected with my duties. 
At last the day came for the remise. Clad in a rich court- 
dress, followed by Mmes. de Gontaut and de Bouille, 
preceded by the Due d'Havr6, the King of France's 
Ambassador, the Due de Levis, the Comte de Mesnard, 
the Marquis de Rochefort, &c., I set out in a gala-carriage 
to drive from the Prefect's to the H6tel-de-Ville, while the 



326 MEMOIRS OF 

Princess, her Neapolitan suite and the Ambassador of the 
King her grandfather arrived from the Lazaretto by sea. 
The population of Marseilles, in its enthusiasm, had divided 
itself into two to welcome the Royal bride. Part followed 
her progress in boats, the other crowded the approaches to 
the H6tel-de-Ville and the streets through which the pro- 
cession would have to pass. 

Installed in its place at the appointed time, in the prin- 
cipal hall of the Hotel-de-Ville, the French Court, with the 
Ambassador at its head, silently awaited the entrance of 
the Neapolitan Court. In the middle of the hall stood an 
enormous table, destined to hold the documents which 
were to be signed by the two diplomatists. As I have 
said, the ceremonial was based upon that which was fol- 
lowed at the wedding of the Duchesse de Bourgogne. It 
was therefore a sort of unrehearsed performance which was 
not without its terrors for the boldest of us. 

At last the folding-doors opposite us opened wide, and 
admitted the Prince de Scylla, who accompanied his Prin- 
cess, while the Due d'Havre stepped forward and stated 
the mission which he had received both from the King his 
master and from her Royal consort. The Neapolitan 
Ambassador, increasing the embarrassment of tiie position, 
replied forthwith ; and his words were immediately fol- 
lowed by this curious pantomime: the Due d'Havre, by 
strength of the ratifications which had been exchanged, led 
over to our side her whom he had just greeted as Duchesse 
de licrr}', and while the Neapolitan Court nniaincd motion- 
less in its place, we, as had been arranged beforehand, 



MARSHAL OUDINOT 327 

each assumed our respective functions. Mine consisted 
in first having myself officially presented, with my names 
and titles, by the Due d'Havre ; but so soon as this for- 
mality was completed, the latter became as it were the 
subordinate of myself as Mistress of the Robes, and from 
that moment he was not allowed to do anything without 
my knowledge and participation. 

Approaching Mme. la Duchesse de Berry, I presented to 
her in my turn all the small French Court, commencing 
with the Due d'Havre, who, now that his duties as Ambas- 
sador were accomplished, simply ranked as one of ourselves. 
None of the spectators of these different movements can 
have understood much about them. I myself thought 
them strange, but I was following a programme, and as a 
rule I made it a point to depart from precedent as little as 
possible, and only when I considered certain portions to be 
too superannuated. 

Soon the First Lady of the Bedchamber, the Comtesse 
de la Ferronnays, assuming her personal functions, took 
Mme. la Duchesse de Berry to a room where all her French 
garments were prepared. She was made to take off, down 
to her shift, all those in which she was dressed. This 
over, she reappeared in the hall of the H6tel-de-Ville, 
where all the civil and military authorities awaited her. 

Her timidity prevented her from replying to all the 
addresses presented to her, although if all these serious 
and pompous speeches had resembled that of the Comte 
de Bastard, who received her at Lyons, she would have 
avoided all necessity for reply of any sort. 



328 MEMOIRS OF MylRSHJL OUDINOT 

" Daughter of St. Louis," he said, after bowing pro- 
foundly before her, " give us sons who resemble you." 

There was no answer possible to a command of this 
description. 

The journey was a long triumphal progress. Reception 
succeeded reception, fete followed upon fete at the dif- 
ferent towns we halted at, until at last we reached the 
little town of Nemours, the last stage at which we were to 
pass the night before arriving at Fontainebleau, where the 
King, the bridegroom and the whole Court awaited the 
Royal traveller. 



CHAPTER IX. 

Interview of the Due and Duchesse de Berry in the Forest of Fontainebleau — 
The ceremony at Notre Dame — The Duchesse de Berry's new existence 
— The Greffulhe Ball — The 13th of February 1820 — Assassination of the 
Due de Berry — The scene at the Opera-house — The Duke's last moments 
— The circumstances of the crime — Details about Louvel — His arrest — 
And trial — The Duchesse de Berry at Saint-Cloud and at the Pavilion 
Marsan — Her confinement— Birth of the Comte de Chambord — The wit- 
nesses — Death of Napoleon — The Spanish War — Oudinot, commanding 
the 1st Army Corps, makes an exclusively political campaign — Journey to 
Dieppe — Illness and death of Louis XVIII. 

The latter part of the day spent at Nemours was devoted 
to meditation. Her Royal Highness had been accompanied 
by her almoner along the whole journey, and at this moment 
was more fully occupied with him than ever. She was 
naturally much excited at the thought of the coming inter- 
view. 

The next morning, after Mass, at which Her Highness 
partook of Holy Communion, and after a private breakfast, 
we all assumed Court dress, for it was in this attire that we 
were to travel the six leagues which separated us from Fon- 
tainebleau. 

The meeting-place was at the cross-roads at St. Herem's 
Cross, which stands in the middle of the forest. The car- 
riages of the King and the bride were to arrive at the same 
time from opposite directions upon this vast expanse of 

lawn, which was easily able to contain all the carriages and 

22 

329 



330 MEMOIRS OF 

their horses and those of the escort. Signals had been 
arranged along both roads, in order to hasten or slacken the 
respective speed of the carriages, so as to enable them, as 
prescribed by the ceremonial, to arrive simultaneously. We 
followed our Princess, to whom the King, who had alighted 
on his side, stretched out his arms in order to prevent her 
from kneeling to him, as was also prescribed by the order 
of ceremonies. Without waiting to read the letters from 
the King of Naples presented to him by the Princess, 
the King re-entered with her the Royal chariot, which was 
all of glass and of a dimension to carry the whole Family. 
We followed in our own carriage, and in this way made 
our entrance into Fontainebleau. 

In spite of the frigid solemnity of the etiquette followed 
on this occasion, there was a certain display of sentiment, 
and M. le Due de Berry had seized an opportunity to say 
to Mme. de la P'erronays and myself: 

" Ah, you bring me some one incomparably more 
attractive than I had imagined." 

He seemed delivered from a nightmare, and in his joy he 
thanked us as though we had moulded the young arrival 
with our own hands. 

There was a solemn dinner, finished by a solemn c\-ening. 
A game of loto-daupJiin, over which the King presided, 
formed part of the programme, and I found it a very 
imposing task, I can assure you, to have to call out the 
numbers in my turn, amid profound silence. When I had 
finished this dut)-, I thought that was all ; but the King, 
looking me straight in the face, asked : 



MARSHAL OUDINOr 



331 



** Have you finished, madame la duchesse ? " 

" Yes, Sire, the blanks are all filled." 

" But at the last number you ought to say * and,' which 
explains to all of us that you have finished calling out the 
numbers." 

I remembered it for the future. 

We retired early, and the next morning v^e drove to 
Paris, where an official entry was made. 

Next came the day of the marriage ceremony at Notre 
Dame. The procession and the religious service were very 
imposing and fine. All the State bodies were represented. 
The entire garrison under arms and the National Guard had 
difficulty in restraining the flood of the population, which 
rolled in billows from the Tuileries to the cathedral. The 
weather was magnificent. 

The whole programme, which dated back to the days of 
Louis XIV., was followed out to its last limits ; and after 
the fete which ended the evening of the wedding, the King, 
followed by all the Court, men and women, conducted the 
bride and bridegroom to their room, and when they were in 
bed, bid them good-night in public. After taking part in 
this strange ceremony, I was at last able to return home. 
Need I describe my joy on meeting my dear ones again, or 
my delight at being able to take my little daughter upon 
my knees ! 

My duties as Mistress of the Robes, which were encum • 
bered with a multiplicity of details, did not compel me to 
follow up the whole of the service out-of-doors, which was 
divided among the eight young ladies-in-waiting whom I 



332 



MEMOIRS OF 



have named to you. I organized their services, and strictly 
speaking, I was only obliged to do mine on Sundays, for 
the King's Mass, the receptions of ambassadors, which 
took place periodically, and the presentation of distin- 
guished foreigners to Her Royal Highness, which could 
only be performed by myself; and under some other 
exceptional circumstances. But it would have been very 
ungracious of me to harden myself against the affectionate 
appeals which were made to me outside my obligations, 
especially when I observed the price which was put upon 
my presence and the care bestowed on the selection of 
occasions which would be the least irksome and the most 
agreeable to me. 

Among the excursions in which I took part at this time, 
I consider that to Chantilly one of the most interesting. I 
have told you how the old Prince de Conde, who spent the 
last two or three years of his life there, had no longer the 
complete use of his faculties ; but the Royal couple's wed- 
ding-visit seemed to restore them to him. Of the magnifi- 
cent residence of the Grand Conde, nothing remained save 
the stables and offices of the chateau. It was in this latter 
part of the buildings that the Prince had made himself a 
very comfortable summer residence. \\c received the Prince 
and Princess, followed by their little Court, with exquisite 
))()litcncss. It was a pleasant sight, and at the same time 
touching. The old man supported his tottering steps upon 
the vigorous arm of the Prince, who at that time seemed the 
most .solid pillar of the Royal Dynasty. \Vc passed through 
a number of rooms decorated with historical paintings, 



MARSHAL OUDINOT 



333 



having for the most part the great deeds of the Grand 
Conde for their subject. One of them depicted his victory 
over the Royalist troops. The august family had not 
wished to lose any of the military triumphs of this great 
man ; but a figure had been painted in the corner of the 
picture to represent History. In her hand she held a book, 
from which many leaves had been torn, and upon these you 
read distinctly the details of this battle, which was guilty 
in principle, but glorious as a deed of arms. 

Mme. la Duchesse de Berry was also upon very good 
terms with her aunt, Mme. la Duchesse d'Orleans, who 
lived at Neuilly with her husband, her numerous family 
and Mile. d'Orleans. It was also a great pleasure to meet 
the Dowager Duchesse d'Orleans, who had a little private 
Court of her own. She was Egalite's widow, and nee 
Penthievre. Her reputation for perfect goodness was so 
well established that opinions, however diverse, had never 
any but sympathetic words to utter towards this Princess. 
She had happened to break her thigh when the Emperor 
returned to Paris on the 20th of March. He hastened, I 
was told, to send her a safeguard, accompanied by words 
expressing his deep interest. In the summer she lived in 
a very simple little country-house at Ivry. We often dined 
there informally ; and she exchanged plants, bushes, and 
water-fowl with the Marshal. This conformity in their 
tastes had brought them together. 

The Court spent the summer at Saint-Cloud, and in the 
autumn a short stay was generally made in one of the other 
Royal residences, such as Fontainebleau, Compiegne and 



334 MEMOIRS OF 

Rambouillct. Nothing could well be less country-like than 
the invariably official life in these palaces, with the excep- 
tion that all the services of what was called the " great 
posts " breakfasted with the King, who retired for dinner 
into the bosom of his family, while we took this meal at 
the table of the Lord Steward, a favourite office which was 
filled in all the Courts of the Restoration first by M. le 
Due de Cars, and after his death by M. le Comte de Cosse- 
Brissac. Their charming wives admirably did the honours 
of this table, which was in every way perfectly served. In 
Paris we had the honour of breakfasting with the King 
three times a year. This- was on the ist of Januar}', on his 
saint's day, and on the anniversary of his restoration. 

When Mme. la Duchesse de Berry began to entertain 
hopes of motherhood, I received full instructions as to my 
duties in this connection from the Grand Master of Cere- 
monies. It was the rule that the mother of the Children 
of France should give birth to them in public. It was a 
select public, I admit, consisting of the King, the Royal 
Family, the Princes of the Blood, the Ministers, the Chan- 
cellor of France, in a word, the Government. And all 
these were to be summoned by me at a certain moment, 
that is to say, not long before and certainly not after the 
decisive moment. All this seemed a very formidable business 
to me ; but before reaching the precise time concerning 
Her Royal Highness, I had to occupy myself on my own 
account with the birth of my second daughter, Caroline. 
Monsieur, the King's brother, and Mme. la Duchesse de 
V>\\y personally hcKl this child over the baptismal font. 



MARSHAL OUDINOT 



335 



She arrived brimming with health in bright sunshine on the 
2nd of June 1817, and was the Marshal's sixth daughter. 

I was keeping myself prepared for eventualities when, 
some months after this birth, I was summoned in all haste 
to the Elysee-Bourbon. Already Louis XVIII. and many 
members of the Government had been warned and were at 
their posts. I sent out as quickly as possible the notices 
which had been delayed, and only after these formalities 
had been carried out was I allowed to go to my poor young 
Princess, whose screams could be heard in all these rooms 
filled with people in full dress. 

Her Royal Highness gave birth to a daughter who 
seemed very healthy, but whose sex was a great disappoint- 
ment to her family. Nevertheless, I went home in the 
evening much relieved, if not satisfied ; I went out again 
very early the next morning, and did not expect, when I 
reached the Elysee, to find the Palace in a turmoil. The 
child had been attacked with internal convulsions which 
threatened its days. The Faculty exerted itself in vain ; 
in a very little while the poor babe was dead. 

The young mother accepted this sorrow with a Christian 
resignation which edified me greatly. A consolation seemed 
about to follow before a year was passed, only to result in 
renewed disappointment. Mme. la Duchesse de Berry 
gave birth to a boy, but he came prematurely, and only 
lived long enough to be privately baptized, like his sister. 

We thus came to the year 18 19. I brought my son 
Charles into the world ; and this arrival of a boy brought 
joy into our household. A third confinement came to con- 



336 MEMOIRS OF 

sole the Tuilcrics nncl the Elysee-Bourbon, and on the 27th 
of September was born, amid the ceremonial I have already 
described, Louise of France, who was known by the title 
of Mademoiselle. I well remember the strange feeling I 
experienced on seeing Mme. la Duchesse de Gontaut, who 
had been appointed Governess to the Children of France, 
pass by, carrying on an immense pillow the little girl, 
weighing less than three pounds, who was about to be 
installed in the immense apartments prepared for her ; and 
on seeing the crowd of courtiers rise in a body at the cry 
of " Mademoiselle " uttered by the gentleman-usher. Will 
she live } I asked myself. Will it be in France .-' What 
has the future in store for that little being ? What influ- 
ence will it be able to exercise if God preserves its delicate 
life ? 

The child grew up to become the worthy and noble 
Duchess of Parma, whose virtues and whose pure and mag- 
nanimous character were admired by all Europe. 

M. le Due de Berry gave many entertainments at the 
Elysee-Bourbon. It was, I believe, early in January 1820 
that during the preparations for one of these, the upholsterers 
and all the staff were seized with alarm at the fall of a 
whole panel full of mirrors which occupied one of the sides 
of the long gallery of the Palace. There was nothing to 
explain this catastrophe, which caused only a temporary 
annoyance at the time, for it was quickly repaired, but not 
long afterwards it gave cause to superstitious people to 
regard it as a sinister omen of what followed. 

Nothintr notable occurred durin-'- the ensuini^ weeks to 



MARSHAL OUDINOT 337 

delay my mention of the terrible event which I will now 
describe to you. 

On Friday the nth of February 1820, 1 was not on duty 
and had gone to a supper given by the Grand Referendary, 
the Marquis de Semonville, at the Luxembourg. Several 
of the guests had come on from a masked ball which the 
Comtesse Greffulhe was giving the same evening, and told 
me that they had recognized M. le Due and Mme. la 
Duchesse de Berry there beneath their dominoes. They 
all agreed that the ball had been charming. The next day 
I asked Her Royal Highness if she had taken much part 
in it. 

" I enjoyed myself immensely," she replied ; " there were 
so many different and ingenious disguises, and we were 
particularly amused by the Due de Fitz-James made up as 
Potier in the part of the sly old father in the Petites 
Dana'idesr 

This play was drawing all Paris to the Porte Saint- 
Martin. It was a parody of the grand opera of the 
Danaides^ which was much in vogue at that time. 

" Oh, how funny the Duke was," resumed the Princess, 
" ferociously sharpening all the fifty little knives which he 
drew from his pockets. His imperturbable face in the 
midst of this occupation, which he continued through all 
the ball-rooms, was exquisitely comical." 

Alas, this zealous servant of the dynasty little suspected 
that at that moment a real knife was being sharpened in 
the court-yard of the Hotel Greffulhe, and that, but for a 
shower which upset all the assassin's plans, he would have 



338 MEMOIRS OF 

put into execution that same night one which he had long 
been meditating. Yes, the rain caused Louvel to postpone 
the crime on which his mind was gloating. 

In order to finish with the Grefifulhe ball, I will add that, 
upon my asking Mme. la Duchesse de Berry why she had 
not danced, she replied, in a whisper : 

"In confidence, I have fresh hopes; but they are so 
vague, dear duchesse, that I do not talk about them." 

You can imagine with what satisfaction I received these 
words. 

At last rose the sad day of Sunday the 13th of Feb- 
ruary 1820. I went, as usual, to breakfast at the El)'see- 
Bourbon. These breakfasts were always gay. \\'e were 
called, not without reason, the young Court. Our Princess 
was only twenty years old ; none of her ladies, excepting 
perhaps the Duchesse de Gontaut, was as much as thirty, 
and some of us were much less. M. le Due de Berry, 
who was thirty-nine, had selected the greater part of his 
aides-de-camp from among the young heroes who had 
figured in the last wars of the Empire ; and if, among this 
world full of life, there were to be found some few devoted 
old emigrants, they spoilt nothing, because not only was 
the right of their presence naturally recognized, but they 
were generally both gay and amiable. At their head 
was the Due de Levis, who was welcomed wherever he 
went 

Monscigneur amused himself, as he often did, in testing 
the dexterity of his most elegant officers by throwing new- 
laid eggs to them across the tabic, which, had they failed 



MARSHAL OUDINOT 339 

to catch them, would have broken over their brilliant 
uniforms. But we had reached the last of all these break- 
fasts. On this 13th of February we rose hurriedly from 
table, fearing lest we should be late for the King's Mass. 
Wrapped in furs, the Prince, his wife and I stepped into 
the carriage, and driving across the frozen streets of Paris, 
we arrived at the Tuileries just in time. 

I had taken leave of the Royal Couple from the Elysee, 
when I remembered that Mme. de Sainte-Aulaire had 
written to me that morning asking me to obtain M. le Due 
de Berry's box at the Varietes for her for that evening. 
She wrote that she was dying to see LOurs et la Pacha, 
and that there was not a seat to be had. I ran after the 
Prince, and caught him up at the end of the gallery. 

" Your box at the Varietes, Monseigneur ? " I asked. 

" Whom for .? " 

I hesitated, with a smile ; the Sainte-Aulaire family 
had been playing a little at opposition since the famous 
Toulouse proclamation had caused them to be somewhat 
severely judged. I did not wish to deceive the Prince, and 
I mentioned their name. He smiled in his turn, and after 
an instant's hesitation, he said, " Yes." It was the last 
word he ever spoke to me. With that, it was an act of 
graciousness, and that is the reason why I have entered 
into all these minute details. 

I made use of my complete liberty of that evening to 
take my step-daughter Elisa to my friend the Duchesse 
d'Albufera's ball. It was very brilliant, and I was amusing 
myself, and talking gaily with a friend, when I suddenly 



340 MEMOIRS OF 

observed two gentlemen evidently preoccupied and whisper- 
ing together with their looks turned in my direction. It 
was Casimir Perier and General Pamphile de la Croix. 
One of them left the other, came straight up to me, and 
bending over to my ear, said : 

"We have made up our minds that it is our duty to 
inform you of a melancholy event. M. le Due de Berry 
has been stabbed with a dagger, at the Opera." 

"Ah God!" 

" The assassin has been arrested," resumed the general, 
"and the wound has not been pronounced mortal." 

" Please, general, find my step-daughter, who is dancing 
in the next room, and put us into our carriage." 

The Hotel d'Albufera was next to the Elysee-Bourbon, 
and I at once entered the court-yard, which was already 
filling with other carriages. When I reached the first 
lobby, a frightened woman flew up to me, crying : 

" Where do you come from ? What do }-ou know .•' " 

I had difficulty in recognizing in her the Duchessc de 
Gontaut. Several people joined us, men and women of 
our circle, some in silk gowns, others in dominoes, all 
arriving from the different entertainments which are always 
given on Shrove Tuesday. It was not till then that I 
learnt that the Prince Axas unable to be moved, and was 
lying at the spot where the crime had been committed. 
" To the Opera ! " I cried to my coachman. Two gentle- 
men stepped into the carriage with me : General Comtc 
Bciliard and the Comte de Saint-Cricq. "We will not 
leave you alone at such a moment as this," said the former ; 



MARSHAL OUDINOT 341 

"one never knows what may still be in store." I had sent 
my step-daughter to my room at the Elysee. 

We arrived without hindrance in the Rue Rameau, 
which was destroyed together with the Opera- House. 
We got out beneath the little portico which afforded a 
private entrance to Their Royal Highnesses' box. I 
hastened up a steep, narrow staircase, crowded with 
people, of whom one alone was seated on the stairs, the 
last one, I believe, touching the fatal door. In spite of the 
feebleness of the light which barely made the surroundings 
visible, I thought I recognized in this person Mme. la 
Duchesse d'Orleans. It was she, in fact. She had come 
hurriedly, with her family ; and without entering the room, 
she was close at hand, so as to receive the first news of the 
victim. 

" Go in, go in," she said, making room for me to pass ; 
" your place is there," pointing to the door. I opened it, 
and went in. . . . 

The victim lay stretched on some mattresses brought 
together in haste. His face and lips were livid. Already 
the shadow of death was upon his forehead, and yet his 
dying eyes were astonishingly full of expression. By his 
side was his wife, Avrapped in a blood-stained dressing- 
gown which had replaced the silk gown, also soaked 
with blood, which she had put off. She held the Prince's 
hand in one of hers ; with the other she beckoned to me to 
approach. 

" Speak low," she said, in a sort of wandering voice, 
" for he hears everything." 



342 



MEMOIRS OF 



I did not speakj low or otherwise ; none spoke but 
Dupuytren alone, who declared that he was going to 
enlarge the wound, which had stopped bleeding. In fact, 
the streams of blood which we saw with dismayed eyes 
came from a heap of leeches, which had been thrown by 
handfuls upon that broad uncovered bosom ; but the 
wound proper, caused by a very fine blade, seemed closed, 
and internal hemorrhage threatened to set in. 

But this conscientious and indispensable operation added 
terribly to the wounded Prince's martyrdom, and he uttered 
such cries of pain that I fell upon my knees, and leaning 
against Madame de Noailles, who was in the same attitude 
as myself, I stopped my ears and felt as though paralysed 
with horror. If any one could have saved M. le Due de 
Berry, it would have been Dupuytren. As it was, this 
expert surgeon, unable to do more, had obtained a tem- 
porary improvement, which restored to the dying man 
the faculties which he employed in sanctif}'ing the last 
moments of his life. 

The first use the Prince made of the power of speech 
which had been restored to him by the flow of blood was 
to ask for a priest, the object of his first cry. Mgr. de 
Latil, the Archbishop of Rhcims, was there ; bending his 
car over the dying man's lips, he received a confession 
which we were all in danger of hearing, the words being 
jerked out in hiccoughs. At last, with every possible pre- 
caution, the mattress was laid upon the floor, in order 
that the archbishop, almost lying over the sick man, 
should have a irrcater chance of hcarintj alone. In con- 



MARSHAL OUDINOT 



343 



sequence of the Prince's constant vomiting, it was impos- 
sible to administer the viaticum ; but immediately after 
the absolution, the Prince cried in a loud voice : 

" I should like to see all my children. ..." 

Until that moment, we knew of no child except 
Mademoiselle, who was four months old. 

" Heavens ! what is he saying .? " whispered Mme. la 
Duchesse d'Angouleme to me, seizing my hand. This 
Princess knew of the English connexion, as did all the 
Royal Family. A general stupor ensued ; but the Prince, 
guessing and understanding everything, spoke again, and 
looking towards Mme. le Duchesse de Berry, said : 

" My dear, I confess to you, I have several children ! " 

"Charles," she replied, "why did you not tell me before 1 
I should have adopted them. Let thetn be sent for ; " 
and then, turning to the Due de Coigny, one of the 
Prince's aides-de-camp, she said, " Go also and fetch my 
daughter." 

The two little English girls arrived before the Royal 
child. They approached the bed, knelt down, and in 
tears received the blessing of their father, who spoke to 
them in English. The unhappy Princess embraced them ; 
but the minutes were numbered, and her own child did 
not come. Dupuytren did not leave go £>i the Prince's 
pulse, and the latter said to him : 

" Do not deceive me, give me fair warning, I have more 
to do down here." 

At last the Duchesse de Gontaut brought the august 
little babe in swaddling clothes, who also received that 



344 MEMOIRS OF 

precious blessing. Giving way before all this emotion, the 
Princess threw herself on her knees beside the bed. 
"Take care," said her husband, then, "think of the child 
you carry." At this solemn revelation, whose importance 
escaped none of us, we were all profoundly impressed. 
Meantime the Prince's strength was rapidly sinking. He 
had several times begged for the presence of the King. 

'* It is especially to ask for pardon for the dudi," said 
the Prince, for he never described the assassin by any 
other term. The constant reply was, " The King is 
coming." It was not that His Majesty lacked the will, 
but his growing infirmities made it very difficult for him 
to rise and be moved at night. We a.sked ourselves how 
it would be possible to bring him up to the top of the 
sort of ladder which we had mounted. He arrived never- 
theless. 

Put meantime the long wait was not wasted. \\'ith his 
eyes fixed on his father, the dying Prince recommended 
all his servants to him ; then turning to ]\I. le Due 
d'Angouleme, he whispered a few words which were 
piously received by the latter. When all these duties 
were accomplished, the unfortunate Prince suddenly asked 
himself what he could have done to bring this treatment 
ui)on himself; and then, as though to expiate this accus- 
ing thought, he said : 

" Perhaps I had unintentionally offended him." 

It struck half-past five, and the pale dawn became \isil)le 
through tile candle-light of the ileath cliamber. The 
Prince's chest became obstructed, his words came fewer 



MARSHAL OUDINOT 345 

and fewer, and a mortal stupor was weighing upon the 
numerous witnesses of this dying agony, when the sufferer 
seemed to revive at the sound of a faint noise which he 
was the first to hear, and in a loud voice, he said : 

" There is the King's escort ! " 

Soon we heard the painful efforts by means of which 
the King was brought from the bottom to the topmost 
step of the staircase. His Majesty stood before the death- 
bed of the heir of his race, but yesterday so full of the hope 
of life ; and the dying man did not waste one of the few 
seconds which remained to him in which to attain his 
object : 

" Sire," he said in a voice of entreaty, " I was waiting for 
you to beg you to grant me, as one last favour in this 
world, the life of the man ..." 

And when the King's emotion prevented him from 
replying at once : 

"Ah ! uncle, quick, quick, the life of the man ! . . ." 

"Let us speak of yourself, my son," said His Majesty. 

A third entreaty in the same words came from the lips 
which were growing paler and paler ; but that was all we 
heard, for at that moment Mme. la Duchesse de Berry was 
seized with a nervous attack, and had to be carried away. 
I followed her, but I had neither the power nor the wish to 
keep her from returning, and then ... all was over . . . 

The lifeless head of the defunct was supported by Du- 

puytren, who with the other hand held a mirror before the 

mouth from which the last breath had issued. The King, 

the unhappy father, the brother, the sister, all the heart- 
23 



3+6 MEMOIRS OF 

broken spectators at first restrained their feelings, and the 
silence of death hung over the room. But when the young 
widow approached the motionless corpse, amidst this silent 
scene, she flung herself upon her knees and with all the 
effervescence of her age and her Italian nationality, 
exclaimed : 

"Charles is dead, I want to return home. Sire, let me 
go back to my country." 

These vehement words were received with profound and 
tender pity ; and during the exhaustion which followed 
upon them, His Majesty signed to us to remove the 
unhappy Princess in a carriage which brought us back to 
the Elysee-Bourbon. 

So soon as she arrived, the Princess rushed in despair to 
her husband's room, and then returning to her own, with- 
out at first occupying herself with her poor little child, she 
was seen to take up a great pair of scissors from her toilet- 
table and cut oft" the two long tresses of fair hair which the 
Prince, she said, had loved so well. 

" One shall be for him," she added, "and must be placed 
in his coffin ; the other I will keep for my daughter," 

We succeeded at last in persuading the bereaved young 
Princess to go to bed. This was only after we had reminded 
her of the e.vpcctations with which her future and that of 
the Royal Family and of France were bound up. It was 
at this moment that the Marshal sent for mc to go to my 
room in the Elysee, where I joined him in that ball-dress 
which added, if possible, to the imprcssiveness of the 
situation. 



MARSHAL OUDINOT 347 

I had but little time in which to discuss with your father 
the terrible event that had taken place and its uncertain 
influence upon our future. The Marshal, awakened at the 
first news of the catastrophe, had at once put on his uniform 
and hastened to the scene of the crime. With horror and 
distress he followed the agony of the Prince and the in- 
terrogatory of the assassin. I caught glimpses of him all 
through the night. 

The two dramas were only separated by a partition- 
wall ; and to explain this fact to you, I will leave Mme. la 
Duchesse de Berry for the moment, and return to the 
murderer and his affairs. 

On the Friday, after giving up the idea of killing the 
Prince at the Hotel Grefifulhe, Louvel decided to carry out 
his project on the Sunday evening, not doubting but that 
his victim would go to the Opera, for he had been studying 
his habits for some months. He therefore took up his post 
at eight o'clock in the evening on the pavement of the Rue 
Rameau, walking up and down so as not to attract attention. 
He only stopped for a moment near the portico of which I 
have already spoken, in order to catch the order given to 
the coachman. " At eleven o'clock," the Prince said ; and 
then he entered with his wife, the Marquise de Bethisy, the 
Comte de Mesnard, the Comte Cesar de Choiseul and the 
Comte de Clermont-Lodeve. The Prince never permitted 
the six Grenadiers who composed the guard of the private 
entrance to turn out either at his arrival or his departure; 
the sentry alone stood outside and presented arms ; and 
Louvel, who knew this, went towards the side to which he 



348 MEMOIRS OF 

knew that the sentry turned his back. Towards the time 
appointed, he came up from the Rue Richeheu and waited, 
walking to and fro, for the carriage to drive up ; and 
its owners came out soon after. The party from the box 
crossed the pavement, and while the sentry presented arms, 
turning his back to the murderer, the two footmen, in the 
same position, let down the carriage-step, the Prince took 
leave of his wife as he handed her into the carriage, and 
the three officers saluted. In an instant, agile as a panther, 
the assassin, springing behind the six men, roughly seized 
the seventh by the right shoulder, and drove a long, fine 
blade to the hilt into his heart. With another bound he 
at once removed himself from the witnesses of this scene, 
which was so quick that for a moment no one quite realized 
it. A dull moan from the Prince suddenly caused the 
Comte de Mesnard to ask him : 

" Have you been struck .'' " 

" I am killed," he replied, himself drawing the dagger 
from the wound. 

Then another cry issued from the carriage, and the 
unhappy young wife, who had guessed all, sprang out. 
She reached the Prince as they were laying him on the 
bench of the guard-room and began to assist the witnesses 
of this horrible scene, some of whom hurriedly undid the 
garments which covered the chest of the Prince, already 
stifling and almost swooning away, while the others rushed 
into the streets in pursuit of the assassin. 

"Send for a priest, my dear . . ." were the first words 
the wounded man uttered. 



MARSHAL OUDINOT 



349 



" A doctor," was added on every side. 

The material succour was the first to arrive. Dr. Blan- 
cheton was within reach, and made the first examination, 
without being able to conceal the gravity of the situation 
from the palpitating hearts which were awaiting his pro- 
nouncement. 

" The wound does not bleed sufficiently," he said. 

Dr. Bougon, Monsieur's Physician-in-Ordinary, arrived as 
these words were spoken, and said : 

" I will suck the wound." 

"Take care, Bougon," said the victim, "it may be 
poisoned." 

The faithful servant took no notice of this, but his 
courageous endeavours were of no avail. 

Doctors, apothecaries, people with mattresses came from 
every side. At last it was decided, for want of a better 
resort, to carry the Prince into the actors' room where the 
tragedy was completed. The heart-broken family and 
friends and devoted servants of every kind had hastened 
up and filled the room when I arrived, almost immediately 
after Dupuytren, All the practitioners had made way for 
him, and you have seen how he stayed by the illustrious 
victim's side until the end. 

To return to the murderer, he ran towards the Arcade 
Colbert, hoping that if he succeeded in reaching it, he 
would be able to disappear in the darkness before he was 
caught up. This plan might have succeeded but for an 
accident which delayed him for a few seconds. He came 
into violent collision with a waiter coming in the opposite 



350 MEMOIRS OF 

direction and carryinfj a dishfid of ices. The fall of this 
young man with his load caused a noise with which was 
mingled the shout of the sentry, who had thrown aside his 
musket in order to run more easily, and who had out- 
stripped the other Grenadiers, constantly repeating his cry 
of " Stop him! stop the murderer!" It was during the 
struggle with the waiter, who had seized Louvel while he 
was trying to rise, that the sentry came up with him and 
caught him by the collar. His comrades came to his 
assistance, and the man was brought back, bound hand and 
foot, to the scene of the crime. 

For want of another room, he was placed in a sort of 
closet leading out of the death-chamber. From there, he 
distinctly heard all that went on, and when, in the course 
of the examination, which was proceeded with as quickly 
as possible, the Chancellor or the ministers asked him if 
the cries of his victim did not trouble him, he replied : 

" No; I was only touched by the cry of his wife." 

His fierce composure never flinched during tiic long 
hours of the investigation, which lasted almost as long as 
the life of the Prince. In vain was it sought to discover 
whether he had any accomplices ; and nothing occurred 
during the five months that elapsed before the trial to give 
the lie to his denials. 

The man's physiognomy was, I was told, most repulsive. 
One of my companions during that night of terror and 
sorrow whispered to me : 

"Would you not like to sec the assassin .^ He is just 
through that door." 



MARSHAL OUDINOT 351 

She took no heed of my refusal, and went alone, return- 
ing shocked by his hideous image. 

A second dagger was found on Louvel, but no hint was 
to be obtained as to the use he intended to make of it. 
He kept to his invariable reply : 

" I only killed M. le Due de Berry as being destined to 
propagate a family which I desired to destroy. Personally, 
I have no hatred for him or any of his ; but their reign 
over my country did not agree with my ideas." 

Some one said to him : 

"A word uttered by Monseigneur has revealed that 
perhaps your crime will have failed to advance your pro- 
ject of destroying the Royal race." 

These words seemed particularly to fix his attention, and 
he replied : 

" I am sorry that I was not aware of that fact." 

He persistently refused to explain this speech. 

During a few moments he turned livid with pallor. 
They thought it was remorse, but when he was questioned 
on the subject, he simply said : 

" The hand-cuffs are too tight." 

These were loosened and his pallor disappeared. 

I must not omit to mention one of the most striking 
contrasts of that tragic night. M. le Due de Berry had 
only come out in order to hand his wife into her carriage, 
intending himself to return and enjoy the last act of the 
beautiful ballet, Le Carnaval de Venise, which was to last 
half-an-hour longer. As a matter of fact, the performance 
continued. Nothing within the Opera-house pointed to 



352 MEMOIRS OF 

the tragedy which was taking place outside, and it was to 
the sound of the most joyous and captivating music that 
the sad scenes which I have described to you were enacted. 
An early rumour reached the Orleans Princes as they were 
leaving their box, and you have read how they lined both 
sides of the staircase when I myself arrived ; but generally 
speaking, the news was not known in Paris until the 
morning of the 14th. 

I now return to the Elysee-Bourbon, where the Royal 
Family had arrived, in addition to a constant flow of 
visitors belonging to the Court and the Government. I 
never left the side of my dear Princess, except to attend 
to such details as came within my special province. I 
knew that the family were deliberating as to the residence 
which was to be provisionally allotted to the young widow. 
It w^as at once decided that she should leave the Elys6e- 
Bourbon, which had become impossible for her, the same 
night. Orders were given at Saint-Cloud, and our mourn- 
ful procession arrived there at nightfall amid an icy 
coldness. The Princess was carried to the largest and 
most comfortable apartment in the Royal Chateau. I had 
my bed placed near hers, and lost none of her sobs during 
this second terrible night. 

Before leaving the Elys6e, I had heard from a trust- 
worthy source that the deliberation concerning Mer Royal 
Highness's permanent residence, had fixed it, as I had 
hoped, at the Palace of the Tuileries. Our stay at Saint- 
Cloud was only to last so long as was required to prepare 
the Pavilion dc Marsan, the whole ground-floor of whicli 



MARSHAL OUDINOT 353 

was to be given up to the use of Mme. la Duchesse and 
Mademoiselle. 

After the funeral, we returned with the young widow to 
the Pavilion de Marsan, where we found the rooms hung 
from floor to ceiling with black cloth. Not a mirror, not 
a corner of gilding visible ! This was the etiquette 
under these circumstances. The many tall windows 
of these immense rooms gave hardly sufficient light, 
in the middle of the day, for the usual occupations 
of one's life, such was the gloom produced by these 
hangings. It was #worse still at night. Candles were 
lighted here and there to little purpose ; we lived in a 
tomb none the less. As a concession, Her Royal High- 
ness's bed-room had been hung with grey cloth only. 
The mourning of the whole Household was carried 
out with the greatest strictness ; thus, besides having 
to wear stuff dresses for more than a year, I had 
to have my carriage draped, that is to say, the panels 
were covered with cloth, which even concealed the 
armorial designs. My servants also were dressed in 
deep mourning. 

In spite of the melancholy conditions under which I 
beheld Mme. la Duchesse de Berry return to the Tuileries, 
I felt an immense relief when I saw her installed under 
that protecting roof, I was then able to return for a time 
to my husband and my children, whom I had completely 
neglected since the catastrophe of the 13th. My presence 
was the more necessary in that the marriage of my step- 
son Victor with Mile. Eulalie Minguet had been decided 



354 MEMOIRS OF 

upon in the early part of February. I had told the poor 
Prince of it on the Sunday morning". ... 

When the widow's pregnancy was officially announced, 
the rigidity of her situation had to be relaxed, now that 
the Princess possessed a chance of offering an heir to the 
Throne. She showed herself little, but sufficiently to assure 
everyone of her condition. During this time, the prepara- 
tions were continuing for the assassin's trial. He refused to 
employ an advocate, insisting upon defending himself. He 
talked at great length to little purpose, and was executed 
on the Place de Greve in the course ofrjune 1820. I slept 
at the Tuileries, scarcely ever leaving the Palace except, 
at rare intervals, to go and see my husband and children. 

On the 28th of September, we breakfasted with Her 
Royal Highness in a little summer-house, which was con- 
cealed amid the shrubberies at the end of the water-terrace 
giving on the Place Louis XV. The Princess's features 
bore an air of repose ; if they did not denote gaiety, at 
least there was in the atmosphere, that morning, a sort of 
serenity. She walked briskly along the terrace, following 
with interest the movements of a regiment w^hich was 
passing at the same time along the quay beneath. She 
made no complaint during the day, and when, at eleven 
o'clock at night, her accoucheur, M. Deneux, who was 
staying at the Chateau, came as usual to enquire after her 
health before retiring to bed, she sent him away quietly, 
and bade us all good-night. I went up to my room, which 
was above Monsieur's ; it was on the second floor, but I 
had nevertheless about a hundred steps to climb. I had 



MARSHAL OUDINOT 



355 



been suffering during the day from a violent headache, and 
I had just fallen asleep with the soundness which usually 
follows after such a day, when I was precipitately awakened 
by three violent knocks at my door, through which a foot- 
man shouted to me to come down to Her Royal Highness 
without delay. I slipped on a skirt, threw a large shawl 
over my shoulders, and ran down the huge staircase, on 
which reigned an unaccustomed movement ; it was two 
o'clock in the morning. This movement grew into a block 
as I drew near to the bed-room, and I had difficulty in 
entering. Among others who disputed the passage with 
me was the Duchesse de Gontaut, in her dressing-gown 
and night-cap, dragging a young National Guard by the 
hand. 

" Come," she said to him, " let us lose no time." 

I followed her, stupefied. I saw confusedly a number of 
other people moving around the bed of Mile, la Duchesse 
de Berry, who was sitting up, barely leaning upon one of 
her elbows, and when she caught sight of me, cried : 

" It's a Henry— look ! " 

She showed me a new-born child lying against her upon 
the coverlet. I turned a look aghast upon the surrounding 
persons ; there was not an official person among them. 

" Where are the witnesses, Madame ? " I exclaimed. 
"Where are the King and the Royal Family?" 

"There was no time to warn people," she said ; "I only 
had two pains : at the first I called for my maid, and at the 
second she received my child. But nothing is finished yet 
between him and myself, and I shall await the witnesses 



3S6 MEMOIRS OF 

appointed by the King ; they will come in addition to all 
those you see around me." 

I did not waste time rejoicing over the event, realizing 
as I did the importance of making it as public and official 
as possible. In an instant I was at Monsieur's door. The 
Baron de Saint-Aubin, his First Groom of the Chambers, 
was in uniform, and seemed to expect somebody. 

"Tell Monsieur," I said to him, "that Mme. la Duchesse 
de Berry has given birth to a boy : quick, quick, quick ! " 

" But, madame, I have no right to enter Monsieur's 
room at this time ; all I could do was to send for his 
First Lord, the Due de Maille, who will be here in a 
moment." 

"Don't wait for anybody," I said; "if you will not tell 
Monsieur, let mc pass, and I will tell him myself: it is 
urgent." 

I spoke with authority ; he went in front, and there we 
stood before the bed of the good Prince, who was sleeping 
soundly. 

" Wake the Prince," I said to M. de Saint-Aubin, who 
thereupon began to shout : 

" Monsieur, Monsieur ! " 

No result. 

"Well then, shake the Prince," I said, losing my patience 
with the worthy servant, who dared not la>' his hand upon 
his master. He ended, however, by taking him by the 
shoulder and continuing to shout : 

" Monsieur, Monsieur ! " 

The Prince then sat up with a bound, and rubbing his 



MARSH JL OUDINOT 357 

eyes, looked at me with a startled air. I told him of the 
facts. 

" What ! " he said. " You come and tell me when all is 
over ! " 

"The accoucheur himself was not there, Monseigneur," 
I replied. 

At that moment the Due de Maille entered the room. 

" And what were you doing all this time } " asked Mon- 
seigneur. "We are late, go and tell the King at once 
from me." 

Without an)'- further explanation, the Due de Maille 
rushed to Louis XVIII., who was being dressed. He 
had the door opened in Monsieur's name, and told the 
King that he had come to inform him that Mme. la 
Duchesse de Berry was in labour, for that was all the good 
duke had understood. Louis XVIII., who knew more 
than he, received this announcement with a sly smile, and 
said : 

" I am happy to be the first to inform you that my niece 
has been safely delivered of a boy, and that mother and 
child are doing well." 

On returning to the Princess's bedroom, I found the 
official witnesses, Marshal Due de Coigny and Marshal 
Due d'Albufera, who, together with a number of others 
whom chance, or rather providence, had brought there, had 
come in time to assist at Her Royal Highness's delivery. 
The King, Monsieur, M. le Due and Mme. la Duchesse 
d'Angouleme arrived in the room, which was crowded to 
suffocation. An alarming pallor had succeeded the first 



358 MEMOIRS OF 

animation on tlic Princess's features. The accoucheur grew 
alarmed, and entreated everybody to go out. Fresh air 
and care restored life to the courageous Princess, for whom 
I had really for an instant trembled. During this painful 
moment, of which I was the only observer, if I except the 
accoucheur and the nurse (Mme. Lemoine), all, commencing 
with the King, had eagerly surrounded the new-born Prince, 
who was small, but very lively. The Orleans Princes, who 
had been quickly summoned, formed part of the group sur- 
rounding the child when I, in my turn, went to look at him, 
and gave him my silent blessing for having at last arrived 
safely in port after so many storms ! 

During the rest of that night the Tuilcries were full of 
people. The first rays of daylight lit up a state of joy 
which seemed universal. The hundred-and-one salvoes of 
cannon which announced the new-born's sex explained the 
turbulent delight of the great city. My husband was on 
duty, as Major-General of the National Guard. Desiring 
the troops which he commanded to make a display of their 
feelings, he distributed to the soldiers a number of cart- 
ridges, each of which was to shoot out its rocket. Mme. la 
Duchesse de Berry, hearing of this arrangement, which was 
to take place the same evening in the gardens of the 
Tuilcries, had her bed moved to the windows, so that she 
might take part in the sight. This showed thai, thanks be 
to God, her condition had become satisfactor}-. 

I have mentioned a young National Guard whom the 
Duchesse de Gontaut led into Mme. la Duchesse dc Berry's 
room. To explain this incident and some other particulars 



MARSHAL OUDINOT 



359 



of the memorable hour which witnessed the birth of M. le 
Due de Bordeaux, I must return to the first pangs which 
awakened his mother soon after she had gone to sleep and 
made her call out for the waiting-woman on duty, who was 
sleeping near her. Mme. Bourgeois rushed to the bed, and 
at the second cry she received the child. ... It was 
necessary at the same time to call for help. What a posi- 
tion ! But Her Royal Highness's energy made everything 
easy. A single summons from the footman sleeping in 
the ante-chamber to the Groom of the Chambers near at 
hand, soon spread, first over the Chateau, and then through 
the different posts of the Gardes du Corps, the Royal Guard 
and the National Guard. I do not know what inspired M. 
Sauton with the happy thought to ask the sentry of the 
National Guard to hand him his musket, while he, the 
National Guard, went to fulfil an important mission in 
Her Royal Highness's apartments. It was at this moment 
that the Duchesse de Gontaut, hearing of this opportunity 
and eagerly seizing it, hastened the steps of the young man, 
who thus became one of the legal witnesses of the Prince's 
birth, together with myself. M. Laisne, as he was called, 
thus placed his signature near those of the two marshals of 
France above-named. I am almost sure that a Grenadier 
of the same company arrived at the same time as M. Laisne, 
and was the fourth signatory ; but I am not quite certain 
of this fact, and I do not remember the last one's name. 
For that matter, the room, when I entered it, was full of a 
number of different persons whom I did not take time, as 
you know, to distinguish ; but I since learnt from Her 



360 MEMOIRS OF 

Royal Highness that she employed them all without dis- 
tinction of rank upon the various things to be done. 
" Light the candles," she said to one ; to another, " Please 
unfasten my dog and send him out of the room." This 
referred to a large spaniel who slept at the foot of her 
bed ; he was white as snow, with curly hair ; his name was 
Chicorce. 

Mme. la Duchesse de Berry had made a vow during her 
pregnancy to visit Notre-Dame de Liesse after her re- 
covery, but this plan was postponed until after the baptism, 
which took place at Notre-Dame with all possible pomp in 
May 1821. The Court and the town of Paris indulged in 
brilliant festivities, and all passed off well. Mme. la 
Duchesse had laid aside her mourning on the joyful 
occasion of this birth of an Heir to the Throne. 

I was very tired at that time, and not at all well. I 
obtained a month's leave, but upon condition that I should 
first accompany Her Royal Highness upon the pilgrimage 
of which I have spoken. After the touching ceremony, and 
Madame's communion at Liesse, we made several excur- 
sions in the Department of the Aisne. Soon after, my 
health becoming worse rather than improving, I obtained 
a longer leave than I had at first hoped for, and we all 
went to Jeand'heurs for the best part of the summer. It 
was there that we learnt the death of the Emperor. 

Being absent from Paris, we did not hear many details 
concerning the reception of the news in the Capital. 
General Rapp, formerly an aide-de-camp of the Em- 
peror's, although devoted to his memory, had nevertheless 



MARSHAL OUDINOT 361 

accepted a place at the Court of Louis XVIII. He was 
in attendance upon His Majesty when the latter received 
the news. The King heard a cry of regret, and turning 
round, saw Rapp's manly features covered with tears. 

" Weep without restraint, my dear general," said the 
King ; " I understand and pity your natural sorrow." 

The political position of Mme. la Duchesse assumed a 
growing importance in the measure that her son prospered 
and she herself became better known. Good-hearted, 
easy-going, affable, loving the arts, she revealed qualities 
which inspired general sympathy. I had first been allowed 
one secretary, and soon I required two. I had chosen the 
first in my husband's offices : he was the son of Mme 
Morel, the lady's maid who had followed me to Russia, and 
to whom we had given the post of housekeeper in Paris. 
Her son had received a very good education ; he was 
intelligent, and full of delicacy and tact, qualities ex- 
ceptionally suitable for the functions which he had to 
fulfil, for I often brought him into contact with Her Royal 
Highness ; and particularly during my short absences, he 
was called upon to work with her direct. This work was 
divided into different parts: first the accounts of the budget 
which the Mistress of the Robes disposed of; next, the 
correspondence, which covered every subject, since people 
applied to Her Royal Highness to try and obtain every kind 
of benefit and favour of which the French are so greedy. 

I broke the seals of between ten and fifteen letters a day. 

1 had grown accustomed to the petitionary style, and 

learnt to appreciate the leading point of the question. If 
24 



362 MEMOIRS OF 

it was a request for private assistance, except when it 
represented some special interest, I sent it to the First 
Almoner, the Bishop of Amiens, or else to the private 
secretary, the Marquis de Sassenay. If it was a request 
for help for a church or other public institution, I placed it 
in my day-to-day portfolio, which contained all the other 
requests of lesser or greater importance. I made out a 
list of all these, and took it to the Tuileries on the days 
appointed for this work. I returned with the Princess's 
verbal replies ; these I immediately noted on the corner 
of the letters, and then, summoning M. Morel, I added the 
necessary explanations, and instructed him to bring me 
the replies which he had written from my notes. I never 
signed these replies without first attentively reading them, 
and yet I had very rarely to correct his work, in spite 
of the delicacy of treatment required, which I would not 
have met with in every secretary. 

On the 3rd of February 1822, I gave birth to my son 
Henry. This birth of a fourth son was received with 
rapture. My husband went off to the Tuileries to announce 
his paternal satisfaction, and brought me, on his return, 
the news of the kind phrases with which the news had 
been received. About the same time I lost my dear Aunt 
Clotilde de Coucy, and shortly after, I suffered a yet 
crueller afiliction : my beloved and sainth- mother was 
taken from me. She died in my arms on All Saints' 
Day 1S22, surrounded and mourned by my husband and 
all her family. On our return to Paris we received the 
most touching marks of sympathy from the l\.o)-al I'amily, 



MARSHAL OUDINOT 363 

and I only partly resumed my duties, owing to my deep 
mourning. 

In the winter of 1822, there arose a prospect of war 
between France and Spain, where the revolutionaries were 
becoming formidable. The Cortes had removed to Cadiz, 
where they kept Ferdinand VII. in their power. At first 
there was a great political question in dispute. Opinions 
were violently divided on this principal point. This was 
the first time that the French army had been mobilized 
since it had hoisted the white flag. All our minds were 
greatly agitated. I foresaw that a command would be 
offered to the Marshal, from whom I expected to be 
separated for an indefinite period. I recalled the struggle 
of the Spaniards in 1808, and this recollection did not tend 
to raise my spirits. All was promptly decided. Various 
army corps, commanded by the Marshals of France, were 
organised during the course of the winter. M. le Due 
dAngouleme was appointed Generalissimo, and my 
husband received orders to march upon Madrid at the 
head of the ist Corps. He reorganized his staff, which 
he selected both from among his old officers and those who 
came in crowds to beg to be chosen for this service, which 
brought them into personal contact with him. 

Still saddened by my recent loss and distressed at this 
separation, I was profoundly discouraged when my hus- 
band set out on the 12th of March 1823. But the 
campaign was purely a political one for your father. 
He was not wounded, for he did not fight ; but although 
he was physically spared, he had much to suffer morally, 



364 MEMOIRS OF 

in consequence of the difficult mission which was entrusted 
to him. To keep order in a capital deserted by the 
Government, in a country where political passion runs 
so high, was a task worthy of his genius. More than any 
other analogous occasion, it offered opportunities to the 
Marshal to display his habitual tact and to exercise his 
well-known humanity. He had much to think of, and 
much to do ; but his labour was not lost, and moreover 
his spirit of conciliation and generosity was supported by 
the will and inclinations of the Prince Generalissimo. The 
place of honour had been reserved for the latter, that 
place where the fighting was expected ; he had demanded 
it, and with justice. And indeed it was he who, by attack- 
ing the Trocadero, delivered the King of Spain from the 
tyranny of his Chambers. I will not go into the question 
whether or not Ferdinand VII. made a good use of the 
power which we restored to him ; but what I will say is 
that the French Prince, after valiantly and humanely 
fulfilling the task which the King his uncle had laid upon 
him, did not wait to receive the thanks of the Sovereign 
whom he had saved, and returned to France without 
seeing Ferdinand VII. 

Our army, which liad preserved admirable discipline, was 
brought back promptly and in good order b\- all its chiefs. 
Your father returned about the beginning of November, 
and he seemed delivered of a great weight. 

The head-quarters of the National Guard had been trans- 
ferred to thu line mansion belonging to the Duke of Padua, 
who hat! let it to the City of J^iris. I hatl takrn up my 



MARSHAL OUDINOT 365 

residence there during the Marshal's absence. We had 
given particular care to the decoration of his private 
apartments, and he seemed vastly satisfied with his new 
quarters; but I was not there when he alighted from his 
carriage. He had omitted to announce the time of his 
arrival, and I was sent for to the Tuileries, where I spent 
the evenings dailv. 

Not long after, Elisa was married to M. Chevalier, Baron 
de Caunan. He had long been Prefect of the Var. The 
wedding was celebrated in the chapel of the Elysee- 
Bourbon by M. I'Abbe Feutrier, who later became 
Minister of Public Worship. About the same time my 
brother Gustave de Coucy married the charming Mile, 
de la Bigne. 

But I had not much time to devote to the joys of the 
family. Madame la Duchesse de Berry had obtained 
permission from the King to visit part of Normandy, 
ending with Dieppe, where she was to take sea baths. 
Her Royal Highness did not leave Saint-Cloud without 
some anxiety about the health of the King, who, in spite 
of his courage, seemed to have been growing weaker for 
some time. However, we set out, and our first halt was 
at Rouen, where we were to make a solemn entry. 

At the last posting-house. Her Royal Highness 
changed her travelling carriage for an open landau ; she 
was thus able to see the people and to show herself to 
them. The crowd became innumerable as we approached 
the town, and even if the order had not been given to 
proceed at a walking pace, we should have been compelled 



366 MEMOIRS OF 

to do so. Before long the carriage was drawn along by- 
men who had unharnessed the horses. It was impossible 
to prevent this demonstration, which in my opinion is 
always a dangerous one. 

Two days of receptions, of petitions, of evening fetes, 
composed the short programme of our stay at Rouen. I 
will take you straight on to Dieppe, where the Princess was 
received as one receives a ray of hope. And in fact she 
brought for the time being endless prosperity to that water- 
ing-place, which till then had been much neglected. She 
encouraged the manufacture of ivory and of rough lace by 
her purchases and orders, and she attracted a number of 
fashionable visitors. The sea-baths which we took together 
proved very beneficial to both of us, and our stay would 
have been both satisfactory and agreeable if the news of 
the King's health had not been of such a nature as to 
hurry our return to Paris, where it had been thought 
prudent also to bring His Majesty, so that he might be 
within reach of all the physicians. 

The King, therefore, had returned from Saint-Cloud to 
Paris. The feast of St. Louis was drawing near, and we 
asked ourselves whether His Majesty would appear. His 
attendants wished to save him the fatigue of this day, but 
Louis XVHL replied : 

" I will keep up to the end. A Sovereign can die, but he 
must never be ill." 

And in fact he did appear. I had not seen him for a 
long time, and when he was rolled in his chair into the 
dining-room, where we were all standing and awaiting him, 



MARSHAL OUDINOT 367 

according to the rule on this occasion, I was painfully struck 
at seeing how thin he had grown. His coat had become too 
wide for him, his epaulettes hung from his shrunk shoulders, 
his whole appearance filled one with alarm. At the King's 
entrance, the trumpets of the Gardes du Corps burst 
into a joyish flourish. Our Court dresses, embroidered 
with gold and silver, the brilliant uniforms worn by those 
who, together with ourselves, had been admitted that day 
to the King's table, the flowers heaped up on every side 
and the dazzling sun formed a festive whole which rendered 
all the more striking the threat of a speedy dissolution 
that was to be read on the brow which evidently bent 
beneath the weight of the Crown. 

We sat down amid a profound silence ; the music only 
was still heard. After bowing to the company in general, 
the King took his place, as usual, at the centre of the table; 
but instead of offering to each in turn the choice between 
the two dishes which he had before him, and that with the 
good grace which would have served as an example to every 
host, he gave way beneath the effort which he had made, 
his head fell heavily upon the table, and in this position the 
King remained perfectly motionless, while the music, which 
had not been countermanded, went on playing ! 

Try and picture the scene, my children. I was seated on 
the right of Monsieur, the King's brother and Heir to the 
Throne, which he was so little eager to ascend. 

" Look," said he, with ill-restrained terror, " see what that 
forebodes ! ' 

I was unable to reply. 



368 MEMOIRS OF 

Meantime the King, rousing himself from this drowsiness 
or weakness, whichever you prefer to call it, gradually rose, 
and was taken back to his room without any further acci- 
dent. I never saw him again out of bed. Nevertheless he 
continued to work with his ministers, and this w^ent on more 
or less regularly until the week preceding his decease. 

During these final days I rarely left my Princess, who 
even expressed the wish that I should sleep at the Tuileries. 
We led a sad life, as you can well believe. Frequent bul- 
letins were distributed among the people of Paris, who 
crowded incessantly into the Place du Carrousel. It was, I 
believe, on the i6th of September that I returned to my 
room for a moment after breakfasting with Her Ro}-al 
Highness, but was hurriedly summoned to accompany her 
to the King, who was about to receive the Last Sacraments. 
I entered his bed-room, as was my duty and my right, and 
while his family knelt down before his bed-side within sight 
of him, I knelt at the foot, behind the green taftcta curtain 
which partly screened him from my view; but I lost 
nothing of the solemn and imposing scene which was 
accomplished before my eyes. The King, who had pre- 
pared himself, received Extreme Unction at the hands of 
the Grand Almoner of France, and replied in a distinct 
voice to all that the obligations of the sacrament rciiuirc. 
Nothing was heard in the great room but the voices of the 
priest and the King. 

" Now," said he to his successor, who was weeping bit- 
terly, "come near me, brother, with your children." 

At these words, all withdrew. After this final and inti- 



MARSHAL OUDINOT 369 

mate interview, of which no one had the right or dreamt of 
collecting the details, it was known that the King had said 
to his family : 

" Now that my earthly mission is over, I bid you fare- 
well ; leave me to my duties towards Heaven." 

They all went out overcome with emotion, and remained, 
like ourselves, at the Tuileries, amid a perpetual going to 
and fro. The doctors and personal attendants alone re- 
mained in the King's room, which was never quitted 
by the First Lord of the Chambers, the Due de Duras, 
whose service it was. The death agony commenced to- 
wards the evening. Consciousness and power of speech 
had disappeared. Then the Royal Family returned to the 
bed-side of the dying Monarch. The door closed upon the 
great Galerie de Diane, in which were gathered all the 
Households of the King and the Princes, which made up a 
great number of persons ; but nothing interrupted the 
gloomy silence. The whole evening was spent in this way, 
and part of the night. 

About two o'clock in the morning the door leading to the 
King's bedroom was opened to give passage to a footman, 
who returned almost immediately carrying a large crucifix ; 
then all once again became silence and immobility. It was 
not until about four o'clock that the door opened again, 
this time noisily and precipitately, and we beheld the Due 
de Duras coming forth in tears, who in a loud voice pro- 
nounced the sacramental words : 

" Gentlemen, the King is dead, . . . Long live the King! " 

A shudder followed the first words, but immediately 



no MEMOIRS OF 

there was a general shout of " Long Hve the King ! " At 
the same moment the new King came out from the death 
chamber. His face was bathed in tears. He made an 
expressive gesture that the cheer which he had just heard 
was not to be repeated, and hastily proceeding towards the 
Pavilion Marsan, taking no notice of our crowd who fol- 
lowed him, he went to his own apartments. 

A few hours later, orders were given by him who was 
thenceforth to be known as Charles X. Dating from that 
day, M. le Due d'Angouleme bore the title of Dauphin, 
Mme. le Duchesse d'Angouleme that of Dauphiness, and 
Mme. la Duchesse became Madame, Duchesse De Berry. 
It was decided that the King, his family and the entire 
Household should leave in the morning for Saint-Cloud. 
The Marshal was on duty for the Royal Guard ; he conse- 
quently made the military arrangements, and I was happy 
to think that during the first days of the new reign we 
should be under the same roof and able to converse 
privately upon all these great events. 

Before long, a number of Court carriages, with the King's 
at their head, set out for Saint-Cloud. We drove at full 
speed, when suddenly one of the horses of the King's 
carriage fell down, and naturally dclaj'cd the whole 
progress. This incident, of no importance in itself, im- 
pressed me not a little ; but on principle I put aside any 
idea of presentiment, and was careful not to communicate 
to anybody the slight shock which this had given me. 

Chance had allotted me a room which was immediately 
above that of the King. I believe that Charles X. had pro- 



MARSHAL OUDINOT 371 

visionally chosen this apartment, on the ground -floor, 
because it gave on to a little private garden concealed from 
view. I was quite ignorant of the distribution of this part 
of the Chateau, and when, after arranging my room, I looked 
out from my window, I quickly withdrew my head on seeing 
the King walking alone around that small grass-plot. I 
shall never forget his attitude, which expressed sorrow and 
profound anxiety. His head bent, his eyes fixed to the 
ground, he seemed already weary of the weight upon his 
shoulders. I forebade my maid to give way to any of the 
acts of curiosity which might be prompted by the near 
presence of the King, and I went downstairs to join the 
Princess. 



CHAPTER X 



Visit to Jeand'heurs — Coronation of Charles X. — An epigram of M. de Cor- 
bieres — Impertinence of the Austrian Ambassador, who declines to give 
Oudinot the title of Due de Reggio — Unpopularity of the Villcle Ministry 
— Review of the National Guard —Manifestations against the Government 
— The National Guard is dissolved — The Duchesse de Berry's journey in 
the South — The Spanish Infant — Visit to the Grande-Chartreuse — The 
King of Naples — Symptoms of hostility to Charles X. — The Royal Guard 
reviewed by Oudinot — Fete at the Palais-Royal in honour of the Neapo- 
litan Court — The King's blindness to the facts of the political situation — 
Opinions of Marshal Marmont — Fall of Charles X. — Letter from the 
Duchesse de Reggio to the Duchesse de Berry — The latter's reply — The 
Polignac trial — The Oudinot family retire to Bar-le-Duc — Arrest of the 
Duchesse de Berry — Generous offer of the Duchesse de Reggio — Heroic 
death of Colonel Auguste Oudinot in Algeria — The Marshal's despair 
— Marriage of Marshal Oudinot's daughter with the Comte de Vesins 
— Oudinot's illness — Letter from Louis Napoleon — Charles Oudinot — 
Marriage of the Marshal's second daughter with M. Joseph Perron — 
Oudinot appointed Grand Chancellor of the Legion of Honour — And 
Governor of the Invalides — Death of Oudinot. 



The month of May 1825 was fixed for the coronation, 
which was to take place at Rheims. At the commence- 
ment of that month, Madame, Duchesse de Berry, told me 
that she was going to start beforehand, and that she would 
give us a few days at Jeand'heurs and Bar. The Marshal and 
I hurried on in advance to prepare a suitable reception for 
her in our two houses. Part of the Marshal's children, all of 
mine (who were then very little), the staff of the Royal and 
National Guards and several of our friends joined us to 

assist us in our various cares. The witt}' Alissan de Chazct 
37a 



MEMOIRS OF MARSHAL OUDINOT 373 

also offered us his aid in composing an occasional play in 
which every one was to take part. Not far from the 
chateau, in a building forming part of the paper-works, we 
arranged a temporary theatre capable of holding several 
hundreds of people. Lamps were prepared for the illu- 
mination of the park, to which the inhabitants of Bar and 
the neighbourhood were invited. Provisions were laid in 
for the supply of the three or four different tables necessi- 
tated by the various natures of the Princess's suite. I was 
busily occupied with all these arrangements, when the 
Marshal, who, with his usual temerity, had been trying to 
subdue a Spanish horse which no one was able to manage, 
fell with the beast, which rose furiously and trampled upon 
his body. He was carried indoors in a fainting condition. 
This happened on a Sunday, and on my return from 
attending Mass in the village with my children, 1 saw all 
my guests assembled on the steps. One of them came 
forward to prepare me for the accident. The doctor of 
the neighbouroood had already given the first help, and 
soon Doctor Champion came and bled the Marshal, and 
restored his power of breathing. Danger was thus averted ; 
but I was yet far from easy in my mind when, two days 
later, I had to go and await Madame, Duchesse De Berry, 
at Chalons-sur-Marne, in order to attend her during the 
official reception prepared for her. The ordinary pro- 
gramme was gone through, and the next morning we set 
out for Jeand'heurs, accompanied by the numerous and 
brilliant suite which was to surround Her Royal Highness at 
the coronation. We found the Marshal at the park-gates, 



374 MEMOIRS OF 

^vith his family and his stafif. My husband had made an 
effort worthy of his courage in rising from his sick-bed for 
this purpose. All the authorities and notabilities of Bar 
and the neighbourhood were also present. The park, 
adorned by its own natural beauties, and further decorated 
by the presence of a large number of charmingly-dressed 
women, offered an attractive appearance with which the 
Princess was greatly struck. She was very natural and 
made a general pleasant impression. 

The illumination produced an admirable effect ; both 
when we went to the theatre and on our return, it was in 
all its brilliancy. The little piece, full of wit and epigram, 
had the additional merit of being performed b}' those who 
had been dining with Her Royal Highness, who amused 
herself vastly. When we returned to the brilliantly-lighted 
drawing-room, one of the actors sat down to the piano, 
and the Princess danced with General de Verdiere. The 
latter had kept on his costume as a cautijiicrc, in which he 
had just been distinguishing himself on the boards. This 
man, remarkable for the excellence of his heart, his taste, 
and his wit, brought into everything an animation and a 
grace all his own. After the country-dance, when the 
time to retire had at last come, he offered Madame his 
arm to lead her to her apartments. We all followed, and 
it was an extraordinary sight to see the tin\- Princess 
place her hand upon the enormous arm of the cantinicre 
in question and mounting the large and majestic stair- 
case of Jeand'heurs. We were all mcrrj- ; for General de 
Verdiere knew how to ally incongruit)- with personal dis- 



MARSHAL OUDINOT 375 

tinction, and nothing ever removed the note of good 
breeding for which he was so eminently remarkable. 

In spite of his weakness and his great fatigue, the 
Marshal had borne better than I expected the duties im- 
posed upon him by circumstances ; and he managed to 
recover sufficient strength to set out for Rheims at the 
same time as Her Royal Highness and myself. 

I occupied a small set of rooms, very high up, beneath 
the same roof as my Princess, at the Archbishop's Palace, 
which resembled a bee-hive, so great was the concourse 
of members of the service of the King and of his Family. 

The interior of the Cathedral had been disguised in a 
manner calculated to drive lovers of architecture to de- 
spair. But on the one hand, this had given work to a 
number of labourers, and on the other, it had been con- 
sidered wise to revert to a certain extent to the usages 
and customs of the old coronations at Rheims. The King 
arrived twenty-four hours after us. We went, as it were 
incognito, with Madame, Duchesse de Berry, Madame la 
Dauphine, and both their Households, and took up our 
places at privileged windows to watch the passing of the 
procession. It was magnificent ; but soon a sinister 
rumour was spread about, which specially afflicted the 
Duchesse de Damas. One of the carriages of the pro- 
cession was not in its place, and we heard that this was in 
consequence of a serious accident which had precipitated 
the equipage down a deep slope. 

This was only too true. It was at Fismes, I believe, 
that the noise of the cannon frightened the sixteen horses 



T76 MEMOIRS OF 

of two of the carriages ; those of the King were courage- 
ously held in and driven by the coachman, kept up their 
headlong course without swerving, and finally calmed 
down as they approached Rheims ; but the next carriage, 
less well driven, was hurled down a terrible height, and 
the occupants were all more or less hurt. This acci- 
dent threw a certain gloom over the rest of that day and 
those which followed. The youngest of the four victims, 
the Comte de Coss(^-Brissac, the King's Lord Steward, was 
alone able to fulfil his functions at the ceremony ; he wore 
a face covered with contusions and his left eye was con- 
cealed beneath a black bandage which he was not able to 
lay aside for several days. The Due de Damas, the Due 
d'Avaaray and the Comte Curial did not appear at all. 
The latter died a few months after, as the result, it was 
said, of his hurts. 

I will not describe to }'0U in this place the splendours 
of this ceremony, in the course of which Charles X. 
appeared in different costumes before assuming the cloak 
covered with fieurs-de-lys which he wore with infinite 
grace and majesty, enhanced by the brilliancy of the 
magnificent crown which adorned his noble brow. No, 
I will not here repeat these details, which }'ou can 
find elsewhere ; I only wish to tell you of the impression 
made upon me when the new King, dressed as I have 
described, and paying no heed to the enormous weight of 
his rich decorations, which must have been crushing, easily 
and majestically ascended the immense staircase which had 
been erected in the centre of the nave, and from tiie seat 



MARSHAL OUDINOT ^yy 

on which he took his place, opened an immense cage and 
set free a mass of birds which flew off in every direction 
beneath the magnificent arches of the Cathedral. This 
was a symbol of the oath which ensured the liberty and 
well-being of the people, a graceful image which dated 
back to many centuries ago. 

The banquet took place at about five o'clock. The 
Princesses took no part in it ; but a gallery had been 
erected for them in a corner of the great hall, where they 
were considered not to be present. Nevertheless, we were 
all in full Court dress, covered with gold and silver, a 
glittering harness which we wore for some fifteen or 
eighteen hours in all. 

A throne with two steps had been erected at one end 
of the immense hall. On the first step was laid a table 
with a single cover, and the same on the second. At the 
foot of this double throne stretched a table of prodigious 
length, destined for the great French and foreign digni- 
taries, the ministers, marshals, ambassadors and so forth, 
who were all standing in their places awaiting the en- 
trance of the King and M. le Dauphin. The latter was 
dressed like his father in a cloak with the fleurs-de-lys ; 
only his cloak was shorter, and his crown open at the 
top. The King's, which was the finest I ever saw in 
my life, was closed by an enormous fleur-de-lys, com- 
posed of the finest diamonds in the world ; the centre leaf 
contained the diamond known as the Regent. The King, 
with the dignity natural to him, slowly reached the throne, 
followed by his son ; they sat down, each on his step ; 

25 



•378 MEMOIRS OF 

and then everyone sat down at the long table, and — a 
strange sight — in imitation of the King and the Heir 
Apparent, who dined with their crowns on their heads, all 
put on their hats, and ate with their heads covered. 

I pass on to the year 1826, which opened under good 
auspices. The Marshal's health was perfect ; my children 
were growing up. Their heart and intelligence left nothing 
to be desired ; my dear step-daughter Stephanie brought 
immense sweetness into our home. Of my two sons, one 
was still in command at Saumur, the other was doing well 
in his regiment, and had every chance of a rapid pro- 
motion. But though our personal interests were satisfac- 
tory, the Marshal and I still retained a frequent, vague 
anxiety concerning the future of the Government. Placed 
so near to the King and the Princess, and knowing so well 
their loyalty and their goodwill for the prosperity of France 
and the general happiness, we were often alarmed at the 
illusions of their immediate following. Charles X.'s popu- 
larity had been only temporary. The Villele Ministry, 
composed of honest men but ignorant of the manner in 
which to conceal what is often necessarily severe in the 
methods of government, frequently irritated public opinion. 

To give an idea of the want of etiquette which distin- 
guished some of the ministers, I will tell you how the 
Comte de Corbieres, Minister of the Interior, was one day 
working in the King's closet (this was under Louis XVIII., 
but quite towards the end of his reign), and absorbed by the 
subject of his work, persisted in assiduous!)' taking snuff 
and j)laciiig his snuff-box on the King's desk. The King 



MARSHAL OUDINOT 379 

watched this familiarity from the corner of his eye, but 
without growing angry, and soon the Minister's pocket- 
handkerchief was placed by the side of the snuff-box. 

" But, Monsieur de Corbieres," said the King, at last, 
"you appear to be emptying your pockets." 

" Perhaps so, Sire," replied the other ; " but I should 
think that was better than filling them." 

The speech was a happy one, for Corbieres was a man 
of noted integrity. 

When her mourning was over, Madame, Duchesse de 
Berry, who took precedence immediately after Mme. la 
Dauphine, and who, by the latter's desire, had, as mother 
of the future King of France, to place herself very much 
in view of the people, began to receive on a large 
scale. Sometimes there were theatrical and musical per- 
formances, sometimes balls, invitations for which were 
eagerly sought after. It fell to me to send out these 
invitations in Madame's name. Who will ever know the 
multiplicity of cares and correspondence entailed by 
the avidity with which invitations to these Royal 
parties were desired ? Not only did all want to be 
admitted to Her Royal Highness's evenings, but also to 
receive invitations for their relations and friends. To 
obtain an invitation, every one had first to have been 
presented at Court ; only young girls were exempted 
from this formality. 

In May, we went to Jeand'heurs. In the beginning of 
July, I returned alone for my service, which I was never 
able to neglect for long. The Court was at Saint-Cloud ; 



380 MEMOIRS OF 

I went to and fro at all times of the day. At the com- 
mencement of August, I went to Dieppe with Madame, 
Duchesse de Berry. We returned in September, and I 
found the Marshal on duty at Saint-Cloud, where I joined 
him. When his time was up, we left for Jcand'heurs, each 
with lea\-e for three months, which carried us to the 
25th of December. Frequent hunting parties and a 
numerous gathering of friends did much to enliven this 
period ; but I did not derive as much pleasure from it as 
generally, because I was suffering in health. On the 
Government side, all seemed sooner or later to threaten, 
if not, as )-et, the reigning Dynasty, at least its security. 
The Villele Ministry continued exceedingly unpopular, 
in spite of its averred honesty and the financial capacity 
of the Premier. 

We arrived in Paris from Jeand'heurs at the end of 
December. We had hardly alighted from our carriage, 
when we saw coming up to us the Comte Charles de 
Mornay, a pleasant young member of the Marshal's staff, 
in whom my husband took a great interest. 

"Well, what's the news, Mornay?" asked the ^Marshal. 

"The most important," lie replied, "is that they are 
unbapti/.ing the Marshals of P^'ance." 

" What do you mean ? " 

"Count Apponyi, the new Austrian Ambassador, has 
begun his receptions, but he refuses to admit the great 
dignitaries of the Empire except under llicir surnames, 
and declines to acknowledge territorial titles taken from 
countries which wc have concjuercd." 



MARSHAL OUDINOT 381 

"Nonsense ! " replied the Marshal. " That's impossible." 

We talked of other things, and went to bed. The next 
day, while I was sitting after dinner with the Marshal, 
who was smoking his pipe in his study, our letters were 
brought to us, including an invitation for the Marshal and 
myself for the aforesaid Ambassador's ball : there was no 
mention of the name of Reggio. I protested ; but the 
Marshal made no reply. His calmness astonished me, but 
all was explained when I saw him return the next morning 
from a walk he had taken after breakfast. 

"I have just returned from the Foreign Minister's," he 
said. " I frightened him out of his life by telling him that 
I intended to call out that Austrian Ambassador of his 
if he persisted in playing the master over us. Damas 
knows me, and trembling all over and very excited, he 
begged me to do nothing and to write nothing until he 
had laid the affair before the King. I agreed to wait." 

All the marshals who bore Austrian titles took the 
matter up and complained to the King. The public 
showed its interest. Your father was lauded to the 
skies and told that, if he were recognized at the theatre, 
where he often went to spend an hour, he would be 
applauded. You can imagine that he abstained from 
that pleasure for some time! On the other hand. Count 
and Countess Apponyi tried to appease the storm which 
they had raised. 

All did not end here, however ; the opinion of Paris 
society was divided concerning this incident. A small 
minority was in favour of the Austrian Ambassador, 



382 MEMOIRS OF 

who tempted fortune by giving another ball a few days 
later. He had every reason to regret it ; the army and 
notably the Gardes du Corps stayed away ; the majority 
of notabilities followed suit ; and M, le Dauphin, who 
had pronounced himself very strongly on the French 
side, gave his thorough approval. No Oudinot ever set 
foot after that in the Austrian Embass)', although the 
Ambassador declared that he had made a mistake in 
refusing the title of Reggio to Marshal Oudinot ; but 
as he went on to explain that this title was taken from 
Reggio in Calabria and not from the Austrian Reggio 
(which was true), the question remained the same for the 
Marshal and his family, for it was the principle, rather 
than the personal fact, with which we were concerned. 

The discredit in which the Ministry was held continued 
to increase, and reacted in a visible manner upon the 
feelings of the crowd towards the Royal Family. The 
Marshal was in a better position than others to observe 
this, being at the head of the Paris civic militia, towards 
which those in power seemed to grow more and more 
indifferent. 

"Sire," he said to Charles X., "the National Guard, 
which no longer regards itself as being so necessary as in 
the disastrous days when it alone maintained peace in Paris, 
is now only sustained by the confidence which it believes 
itself to have inspired, and which for some time earned for 
it Your Majesty's favour. This favour seems to be gradually 
diminishing ; the King no longer calls the National Guard 
out as he used to in the past, when it was proud of being 



MARSHAL OUDINOT 383 

inspected by its General-in-Chief, wearing its uniform, 
and I do not know to what lengths its discouragement 
would go, if it were not revived once a year by the day 
which places the King and his Family under its exclusive 
care ! " 

To explain this speech, I must allude to a fact which 
dates back to the 12th of April, 1814, the day of the entry 
of M. le Comte d'Artois into Paris. As Lieutenant-General 
of the Kingdom, he had promised the National Guard, 
which was at that time the only force under arms, to grant 
it on each anniversary of that day the privilege of guarding 
the Sovereign, in memory of the day on which it performed 
that glorious service. And in fact the Royal Guard 
outside and the Gardes du Corps inside the Tuileries, in 
spite of the annoyance this caused them, were obliged to 
surrender their posts on that day to the National Guard. 
Their Commander-in-Chief placed the sentries, gave out 
the pass-word, and fulfilled the duties of Captain of the 
Guards. In a word, the King, his Family and his Palace 
were handed over for twenty-four hours to the charge of 
the Parisian militia. 

Things went on thus till the month of April 1827, when 
one morning the King said to the Marshal, who had once 
more raised the question : 

"Well, let us clear this matter up, my dear Marshal. I 
understand that you reproach me with not calling out your 
troops for a long time ! " 

" Yes, Sire ; I think you should either politely send us 
about our business, or else continue the marks of con- 



384 MEMOIRS OF 

fidence which it seems to me we have not ceased to 
deserve." 

" Well then, give orders for a review to be held in the 
Champ-de-Mars on the 29th of April." 

The Marshal at once instructed the officers of his staff. 
The chiefs of the thirteen legions of the National Guard, 
including the cavalry, commanded by the Due de Fitz- 
James, were informed of this arrangement, of which all felt 
the importance. 

The anniversary of the 12th of April followed shortly 
after the King's decision and fell two or three weeks before 
the great event. Never had the King shown himself more 
gracious towards the National Guard than he did on that 
I2th of April; every one was charmed, and your father 
came home very satisfied with his sleepless night. For he 
never went to bed during the twenty-four hours of his 
responsibility. 

Always easy-going, Madame, Duchesse de Berry excused 
me as often as possible from my duties in attendance; 
but I was very eager to be present at this review, for 
which the Princesses prepared during some days with an 
increasing alarm which displayed itself in their anxious 
demeanour and in half-words which I caught here and 
there. It was quite clear that their Royal Highnesses had 
been prepared by some mischief-maker to expect a hostile 
demonstration on the part of the twenty thousand men 
gathered under arms on the Champ-de-Mars. 

When the day came, I took ni)- place in the calash 
following that containing the King and his family. The 



MARSHAL OUDINOT 385 

rising ground surrounding the Champ-de-Mars was literally 
covered with an evidently turbulent and excited crowd. 
We could not clearly distinguish the cries they uttered. 
There was a brilliant sunshine which drew flashes from the 
long rows of bayonets drawn up in line on the Champ-de- 
Mars. The carriages drew up beneath the balcony of the 
Military School. The King and M. le Dauphin alighted 
from their carriage to mount their horses. The Marshal, 
saluting with his sword with his admirable military grace, 
had ridden up to receive the King, and soon the brilliant 
staff rode off along the ranks of the thirteen legions which 
stretched out far and wide in this vast open space. 

Soon, cheers were heard on every side. My heart beat 
violently, as I gathered the various reports which officers, 
leaving the escort, brought now to me, now to my carriage- 
companion. She and I did not share the same opinion on 
the National Guard, and as the gentlemen were also 
divided, my agitation is easily explained. 

"All goes v/ell," said one; "what you hear is mainly 
cries of ' Long live the King ! ' " 

Others said, " Those are seditious cries ; " and this gave 
me the more pain because this accusation bore a certain 
resemblance to the triumph which consists in saying, 
" I told you so ! " 

At last the eternal review came to an end, and I saw 
the King, my husband and all the gold-laced band return- 
ing at a gallop. After graciously saluting the Princesses, 
His Majesty turned his horse towards my carriage, and 
with an accent which I shall never forget, said : 



386 MEMOIRS OF 

" Well, dear duclicssc, the Marshal is satisfied, and so 
am I ; on the ^\•hole it was rather good than bad." 

Quite recovered, I returned to the Pavilion de Marsan, 
where my Princess had arrived before me. She accosted 
me with a face of consternation ; she was feverish and 
excited. 

"Seventeen hundred and ninety-three!" she said. 

Astounded at these words, which were so little in keeping 
with what I had just seen and heard, I was about to ask 
her for an explanation, when she volunteered it in these 
terms : 

"My sister and I heard threatening words coming from 
the people assembled on the Champ de Mars ; they were 
renewed as we drove off; and, as you know, the King was 
insulted in the ranks of the National Guard," and so on. 

I endeavoured to calm this explosion ; but seeing that 
my efforts were useless, and overcome with excitement and 
fatigue, I returned home, where I was soon joined by my 
husband. He said : 

"The King, escorted by all whom you saw on horseback 
around him, assembled us in the yard of the Tuileries, and 
before alighting and going in, said, ' Well, gentlemen, 
there is more good than harm in all this.' His words 
were confirmed by the expression of his face. He dis- 
missed us, but I went in with him to beg him urgently for 
leave to draw up and submit to him an order of the day to 
be inserted at once in the Monitcur. 'Justice should be 
done publicly, Sire,' I said, ' as the position to-day was 
public. There has been much good and little harm done, 



MARSHAL OUDINOT 387 

as Your Majesty admits ; but this fact should be pro- 
claimed throughout the Kingdom, so that all the world 
may know how small was the number of those who dared 
to mingle a hostile voice with the loud cheers with which 
the King was received.' The King seemed to fall in 
with my views, and he said, ' Come back at nine o'clock 
this evening with the order you suggest.' If my advice is 
followed," added the Marshal, " all may yet be well." 

Your father and I had a long talk, and then he left me 
to occupy himself with the matter in hand, and the day 
passed without our hearing what had happened in Paris 
after the review was over. It seemed that after the King 
and the Court had returned, and when the thirteen legions 
of the National Guard had commenced to march back, to 
the sound of their drums, to their respective quarters, a 
serious incident took place. 

All Paris was out of doors ; the Tuileries Gardens in 
particular were crammed with people. The Vicomte de 
Sambucy, a man most devoted to the reigning dynasty, 
was marching back the legion whose colonel he was from 
the Champ- de-Mars to the Marais, and at first led it from 
the Place Louis XV. towards the Rue Royale ; but seeing 
that this street was blocked by the crowd, he was seized 
with the fatal idea of turning to the right and thus leading 
his troops into the Rue de Rivoli. The sound of the 
drum, joined to the general excitement of the day, brought 
the enormous crowd in the Tuileries Gardens to the 
Terrasse des Feuillants, which skirts the Ministry of 
Finance, occupied at that time by M. de Villele. 



388 MEMOIRS OF 

By an unfortunate accident, one of the Minister's ser- 
vants, attracted by the noise, had gone out on the balcony. 
He was taken for the Minister himself; there was, some 
said, a certain resemblance. At sight of him a cry was 
heard, no one knew whence, of " Down with Villele ! " 
Alas, it was not the only one, and the shout was taken up 
to some small extent by the troop, as it marched past, and 
almost unanimously by the crowd in the gardens. 

This demonstration brought the discontent of the Presi- 
dent of the Council to a climax. He hastened to the 
King, and depicted this occurrence to him as an attack 
coming from a troop armed in his defence which ought 
to involve an immediate and exemplary repression. And 
this in spite of his expressed opinion that the bulk of the 
cries issued from the people ! 

However this may be, this report, coming but a few 
moments after the King's conversation with your father, 
changed the whole aspect of affairs, and when in the 
evening the Marshal, obeying his instructions, presented 
himself in the King's closet, he found him in a condition 
of extreme alarm, which was shared by all around him. 
The proposed order of the day, to which the Marshal 
attached such great importance, was adjourned for no 
plausible reason, and your father returned home in 
despair, since this postponement not onl}' destroyed the 
appositeness of the proposed measure, but annulled its 
effects. He did not, however, go so far as to foresee what 
was about the follow. 

I spent a bad night ; but fairly early in the morning, I 



MARSHAL OUDINOT 389 

rang for Madame Pils, who, without any preamble, 
exclaimed : 

"Madame la duchesse, there is no longer a National 
Guard in Paris." 

I thought I was dreaming when the Marshal came in and 
told me the sad story. He was lying in bed at about mid- 
night when Pils showed into his room a gendarme bring- 
ing a letter from the Minister of the Interior. I have not 
the original, but I remember that it was pretty nearly in 
these words : 

" Monsieur le Mar£chal, 

" I have the honour to inform you, on behalf of 
the King, that the National Guard of Paris has been 
dissolved. 

" I have the honour to be, &c. 

{Signed) " CORBlfeRES." 

In the morning, to the gaping surprise of the passers-by, 
the words " Head-quarters of the National Guard " were 
removed from the house we occupied, and we began to 
think of finding a lodging elsewhere. 

It would be impossible to tell you what resulted from 
this great event ; only you must know that the Govern- 
ment and Court were greatly deceived as to the effect it 
produced. Some took the gloomy silence which followed 
the events of the 29th of April for submission ; others 
said, as they rubbed their hands, " You see, they are 
delighted to be relieved from the troubles of their service." 



390 MEMOIRS OF 

They either did not know, or took no heed, of a significant 
fact; here it is. We were told that from the Porte de 
Saint-Denis was hung, I do not know how, a Large picture 
representing a National Guard's uniform, with these words 
in large letters : 

FOR SALE 
A NATIONAL GUARD'S CAST-OFF UNIFORM 

followed by, in parentheses : 

(MINUS THE MUSKET). 

Instances were also related of insolence displaj-ed dur- 
ing the review. Here is one which the Marshal would 
quickly have punished, if the King had not prevented him 
in time. A Grenadier left the ranks at the moment when 
His Majesty was passing before him, and boldly said to 
Charles X. : 

" Down with the Ministers ! " 

With noble coolness, the King replied : 

" Sir, I have come here to receive respect, not lessons." 

When, after a short retreat, the Marshal returned to the 
Tuileries, he had made up his mind to keep a stern silence, 
and he followed this plan in sjjitc of all ihc expressions of 
regret with which he was overwhelmed. These regrets re- 
ferred to him personally, and not to the measure in question, 
upon which they seemed, on the contrary, to congratulate 
themselves. Alas, it was much more for the sake of the 
tl)-na.st}' than for his own that }-our father deplored what 



MARSHAL OUDINOT 391 

had been place, and what was certainly the prelude to the 
Revolution. 

But I was not long in a condition to follow the efifects of 
this movement. On the 13th of May I was attacked by a 
congestion of the brain which made me pass a whole day 
for dead. The Marshal, distraught, summoned all his 
energy in vain ; the first doctors in Paris exhausted them- 
selves to no purpose in order to bring back to me a breath 
of life ; when M, de Caunan, who had heard me praising 
M. Dupuytren above all others, sent for him at his country- 
house at Courbevoie. Dupuytren arrived at two o'clock in 
the morning, examined me, and said, " She is not dead." 
He forthwith set energetically to work, and without weary- 
ing you with painful and superfluous details, I will tell you 
that within a few hours I opened my eyes, which had been 
closed since the day before, and at once recognized the 
faces bending over me. I tried to speak to all ; I thought 
I was articulating, but no sound came from my lips ; at 
last I succeeded in conveying that I wished to see my 
children. 

The violent treatment which had saved me from death 
had shattered my nervous system to such a degree that it 
was long before I recovered my normal condition. I asked 
for an indefinite leave to go first to Plombieres and next to 
Jeand'heurs. The Marshal was unable to go with me, and 
I took my daughter Louise, poor dear child, who, with the 
gentle care of her twelve years, did all she could for her 
mother. She was well seconded by Mme. Monniot, my 
children's devoted governess. But I did not benefit at all 



392 MEMOIRS OF 

by my course of waters ; seeing which, our excellent friend 
M, Gouy wrote to the Marshal to come at once and take 
me to Jeand'heurs. 

We returned to Paris at the end of the autumn. Although 
still languid and melancholy, I nevertheless resumed my 
Court service, leaving out, as far as possible, all that was 
not absolutely essential. 

It was in the course of this winter, in February, I believe, 
that the fall took place of the Villele Ministry. It was an 
excited political winter. Nevertheless, the choice of the 
new INIinisters seemed to satisfy public opinion. M. de 
Martignac, who took charge of the portfolio of the Interior, 
gave his name to the Cabinet, which was joined by one 
of our friends, the Comte de La Ferronays, the nobility 
and loyalty of whose character were well known and trans- 
cendental. By his adhesion to the moderate system which 
was announced, this devoted servant of the l^ourbons in 
exile brought a generally appreciated guarantee into the 
new policy. It was realized that he would never fail in his 
imalterable attachment to the reigning Dynasty, but at the 
same time that his policy would be enlightened by the 
experience which he had acquired since his return to France. 

The persistent enfeebled condition of my health during 
the winter of 1827 to 1828 caused me to ask for fresh leave 
in the spring. The month of May w-as spent at Jeand'- 
heurs, where I hoped to be able to prolong my stay with 
you, when I received a letter from Madame, Duchesse de 
Ik-rry, suminoning me immediately to Saint-Cloud ; this 
was, she told me, in order to arrange for a long tour which 



MARSHAL OUDINOT 393 

she was about to make through France, and which was to end 
in a stay at the Pyrenees, where my health would certainly 
recover its vigour. I pass over the following four months. 
You will find this period fully described, my children, in 
the official journal of this journey to the Pyrenees, which 
did, in fact, as Her Royal Highness had prophesied, restore 
me completely to health. 

Two family sorrows followed shortly upon this period ; 
I lost my young and charming sister-in-law de Coucy and 
my excellent brother-in-law de La Gueriviere. 

On my return from the Pyrenees, I learnt that the King 
had granted the Marshal, for an indefinite period, the use 
of the fine house belonging to the Crown on the Place 
Vendome, Its nearness to the Tuileries and the time 
which this saved me doubled the value of this favour. 

It was at about the same time that our dear Stephanie 
was asked in marriage by M. James Hainguerlot, a wedding 
which realized, by forty years of happiness, the promises it 
had brought. 

The summer of 1829 was spent, as usual, in the spot 
which your father loved to call his paradise, and of which 
he was so pleased to do the honours, not only to his family 
and friends, but to all who penetrated within its boundaries. 
I hoped not to return to Paris with my husband and chil- 
dren until the end of the autumn ; but I suddenly received 
a despatch which was brought me from the post by M. 
Malingrey. He arrived breathless one morning with this 
letter, which bore the superscription of Her Royal High- 
ness : 

26 



394 MEMOIRS OF 

"Corneas quickly as you can," she said, "in order to 
arrange for a journey which I shall soon have to undertake 
to meet the King of Naples, my father. He is to cross a 
part of France on the road to Spain, where he is taking my 
pretty sister Christina." 

I set out at once. When I arrived at Saint-Cloud, where 
the Court was in residence, I received my instructions at 
once. 

" There is nothing official about the journey," said the 
King ; " this time Madame, Duchesse de Berry, is simply 
indulging in a family gratification. She will stay at her 
own expense at hotels in the towns she stops at, and if her 
incognito is betrayed, and the authorities choose to wait 
upon her, they must do so without uniforms or speeches." 

This suited Her Royal Highness and myself admirably, 
for we had hardly rested from the former journey, which, 
you will remember, kept us for four months in the public 
view. Moreover, it was a very wise resolve under the circum- 
stances of the time, for I must tell you that the Martignac 
Ministry had been replaced by the Ministry of the Prince 
de Polignac. This step had thrown all France into excite- 
ment ; dull rumours were heard in every part of the country, 
and a very showy demonstration had besides just attracted 
the public attention. This was an almost triumphal journey 
made by General de La Fayette, precisely through the dis- 
tricts which we were to traverse. It is not well to raise 
altar against altar, and without seeking to throw a veil over 
so honest and simple action as that of going to meet her 



MARSHAL OUDINOT 395 

family, Madame, Duchesse de Berry, was very well advised, 
so shortly after her triumphs of 1828, in laying aside her 
Royalty on this occasion. 

I had only just commenced to make my arrangements^ 
when one of my intimate friends, the Marquise de Bethisy, 
came to me, and told me in confidence : 

" I owe it to my friendship for you to tell you something 
which it may be useful for you to know before you start on 
your journey. It would seem that the Neapolitan Ambas- 
sador, who is to be one of the party, proposes to renew, in 
your case, the Austria-Apponyi business." 

" Not really ! " I exclaimed. 

"Yes," continued the marchioness, "he relies upon that 
antecedent, saying that since your Reggio has been pro- 
claimed to be the Calabrian one, there is no reason why 
the King, his master, should not attempt what was tried 
by the Emperor of Austria." 

No motive in the world would have induced me know- 
ingly to abandon the title purchased by my husband at the 
price of his great deeds. I made an energetic protest ; 
and anticipating the arrival of the King of Naples, I am 
able to state that, although the actual bearer of the name 
of Reggio, Prince Scilla, formed part of the Court of the 
Italian Princes whom we expected, King Francis I. ostenta- 
tiously addressed me by my title as Duchesse de Reggio. 

Madame, Duchesse de Berry, was not yet informed as 
to the date upon which the King her father would reach 
the French frontier ; nor did she know when the Infanta 
Carlota, her sister, married to Don Francis de Paula, 



396 MEMOIRS OF 

brotlicr to the King of Spain, would arrive in Dauphine, 
where the two Princesses were to meet, in order to travel 
together towards Their Neapolitan Majesties. Taking 
advantage of this latitude, Her Royal Highness made 
several excursions. On the 15th of October, we slept at 
Chalon, and the next day set out for Macon. The Saone 
was so flooded that we saw what was almost a sea before 
our eyes. On alighting at a fine hotel on the quay. Her 
Royal Highness was informed that her incognito, which 
had been so well observed till then, had been betrayed. 
The authorities were eager for receptions, and offered all 
kinds of entertainments ; but Madame escaped by means 
of kind words, and only consented to witness from her 
balcony a display of fireworks prepared by the soldiers of 
the 24th. 

We here received news of the Infanta ; she was to arrive 
at Vienne at the same time as ourselves or shortly after, 
which decided Her Royal Highness not to stop at Lyons. 
We did not find the Infanta at Vienne, and we pursued our 
road to Tain, where the two sisters alighted from their 
carriages at the same time, and embraced each other 
tenderly. 

We returned to sleep at Valence, at the Hotel de la 
Poste. I spent most of the time at dinner in observing 
the Royal Couple who had joined us (1 see I had forgotten 
to tell you that the Infant accompanied his wife). The 
Princess, who had been long married (she was only four- 
teen when she married the Infant), exercised, it was said, 
great influence over King Ferdinand VII., her brother- 



MARSHAL OUDINOT 397 

in-law ; she was considered to have much influence upon 
the Council, and to her efforts was attributed his marriage 
with the Princess Christina, her own sister. For as you 
know, these two Princesses were only sisters to Madame, 
Duchesse de Berry, on their father's side. 

Dona Carlota was already the mother of a number of 
children. Her enormous stoutness deprived her of all 
appearance of youth. She was very gracious to me, but 
her tone of voice was positive and decided. 

We returned to Lyons on the 20th, and alighted at the 
Hotel de I'Europe, where they have enormous rooms and a 
very good table. Madame, Duchesse de Berry, occupied 
herself greatly with the toilette of the Princess her sister. 
She had foreseen ever since leaving Paris that this would 
be necessary : and when everyone was ready, we set out in 
town carriages to visit the shops and manufactories, and to 
buy as much as possible. Then we went to the hospital, a 
huge and splendid edifice built by Soufflot, the architect of 
Saint-Genevieve in Paris. On the next day, Her Royal 
Highness, still retaining her so-called i7icognito, and accom- 
panied by the authorities disguised in mufti, continued her 
exploration of all the curiosities of Lyons. 

On leaving, we stopped at the chateau of General Guyot, 
near a place called the " Passage," because a Carthaginian 
buckler was found there a hundred years ago, and led to 
suppose that Hannibal must have crossed the Alps not far 
from there. General Guyot, who had gone through all the 
great wars with my husband, and who spoke of him to me 
as he is always spoken of, offered Her Royal Highness a 



393 MEMOIRS OF 

splendid hospitality. Room was found for both the Spanish 
and French suites in this beautiful house. The luxury 
which was displayed was hardly calculated to prepare 
us for the serious undertaking of the morrow, which was 
no less than to sleep at the Grande-Chartreuse, which we 
proposed to visit at a time of year when no traveller 
dreams of going there. 

An incredible tumult reigned in the village of Saint- 
Laurent-du-Pont, where our mules and guides were await- 
ing us, and where the arrival of two Princesses and an 
Infant had caused an unwonted agitation. The crowd 
pushed and fought ; and the mayor, like all mayors or 
nearly all mayors, had lost his head. Each clamoured for his 
steed ; soon Madame, Duchesse de Berry, was seated on 
hers ; but when the turn came of the Infanta, it was quite 
another thing. I heard her shouting in Spanish to General 
Audenarde, the commander of the Department, some 
vehement words of which I do not know the meaning, but 
which seemed peremptory to him, for he made respectful 
signs of assent, I since learnt that she was explaining 
to him that she could not get into the arm-chair saddle 
which had been prepared for her. It was only too true. 
Meanwhile the caravan was kept waiting, and I saw the 
time pass with alarm, espcciall)' when I looked at the 
dark dcille into which we were about to plunge. The 
general then took a great resolve ; at his request the 
mayor supplied an arm-chair; two vigorous douauicrs 
pushed sticks under the scat ; they raised up tlie Infanta, 
and thus carried her out of the village. It was then only 



MARSHAL OUDINOr 399 

that she decided to remount her mule, which this time she 
straddled without any difficulty. 

Night fell, the cold became keen, and soon we reached 
a layer of snow which threw up the imposing blackness of 
the rocks and gigantic pine trees, among which the rough 
road has, with great difficulty, been traced. At last I 
distinguished a dark and enormous mass before us ; it was 
the Chartreuse. 

Soon a feeble light appeared. It was Dom Bruno, the 
Superior, who came to admit the Princes. He received 
them with a remarkable mingling of Christian humility 
and of aristocratic good-breeding. The suite remained in 
a large house outside the monastery. None but the Princes 
and their immediate following had the right to penetrate 
into the quarter of the monks. We were even told that 
the Princesses would not have been admitted if one of 
them had not been mother to the Heir to the Throne ot 
France. Guided by Dom Bruno, we entered an immense 
hall whose white walls and great chimney, in which blazed 
a splendid fire, gladdened all of us. Four cells, situated at 
the four corners of this room, were pointed out to us, one 
for my Princess, the second for the Spanish couple, the 
third for me, and the fourth for Mme. de Bouille. A corner 
was also found for our maids ; and while the Superior re- 
plied with respect and dignity to the questions which every 
one addressed to him, Brother Jean-Marie, the minister and 
master of ceremonies of the house, took pains to make every 
one comfortable. Soon he came to tell us that supper was 
served. 



400 MEMOIRS OF 

I had had the good fortune to inspire him with con- 
fidence, and all he said came through me. We followed 
him, accompanied by the Superior, and we walked long 
without passing through half of the corridor, whose vast- 
ness was made evident to us by means of a little light 
which had been placed at its further end. At last a door 
opened and admitted us to a well-warmed and lighted 
room, in the midst of which a table was laid with supper, 
which naturally included no meat. The Superior withdrew, 
and the two-fold duty of doing the honours and of waiting 
at table fell to Brother Jean-Marie, who acquitted himself 
marvellously of his task. Whenever he experienced a 
momentary doubt, he would come and tap me gently on 
the shoulder, and ask, " Is this the right time to hand that 
dish ?" He anxiously followed the effect produced by the 
cooking of the monastery. He must have been satisfied ; 
for if it had not been thought good, we should have pre- 
tended that it was. 

At the end of the meal I saw him return in triumph : 
he had brought a chocolate pudding ! He whispered in my 
ear, " I think it's a success ! " It was the cream of the 
repast, and met with all desirable triumph ; and in all my life 
I shall never forget the happy air of this good monk, who, 
himself vowed to eternal privations, enjo}-ed this exceptional 
dainty through ouv palates. 

At dessert Dom liruiio came and joined us, to take us to 
the common room, where the great fire was still burning, 
and where a table had been brought, with pens, ink and 
paper, and a solitary book, the life of the founder, St. Bruno. 



MARSHAL OUDINOT 401 

Some of us wrote, others turned over the pages of this 
volume ; nothing was heard in the room but the whistling 
of the wind and the crackling of the fire. None of us was 
eager to speak, for we awaited the signal for matins, at 
which we were secretly to assist. The bells were heard at 
eleven o'clock. 

" Come," said the Reverend Father, returning to the 
room, " but walk quietly, I beg of you, because none of our 
Brothers must know what is happening here." 

We followed him along that unexampled corridor, upon 
which each cell has its outlet. 

" Let us hurry," added Dom Bruno : " we must be in- 
stalled in the darkest part of the chapel before the second 
bell, which will toll presently, brings all the community 
there." 

We hastened our steps as much as possible, and hardly 
breathed, so as not to disturb this eternal silence. We 
reached the chapel at last, and our group took up its 
position, under the Reverend Father's direction, in a corner 
which was so dark that it was impossible that we should be 
perceived, for two candles only were lit upon the altar, 
while all the rest of the building was in darkness. A side- 
door opened in the choir ; the Carthusians entered one by 
one, with slow steps, carrying each a dark lantern, which 
only lit up him who carried it. Their white gowns, with a 
hood pulled down over the face, and the silence, which was 
only broken by the bell, have left me an undying remem- 
brance. When each Father had taken his place in his 
stall (there were twenty-six of them), commenced a grave 



402 MEMOIRS OF 

and solemn chant, which lasted about half-an-hour, during- 
which time we did not make a movement; and this could 
have been prolonged, so magnetized were we by this im- 
posing scene, if the Superior, who always has the liberty of 
his actions, and who alone can depart when he pleases from 
the established rule, had not left his stall to come to us and 
bring us back to the great hall, before the monks regained 
their cells. 

I, for my part, brought back from the church not only 
an icy feeling of cold, which soon vanished before the great 
fire, but a deep moral emotion, which was increased by 
several details which I obtained from Dom Bruno. For 
instance, it was during their first sleep that the monks, old 
and }'oung, were awakened by the stroke of the first matins 
which we had just heard. They returned to sleep, only to 
be summoned again, before daybreak, to the same chapel, 
where the exercise was continued ; and in spite of the 
severity of their other duties, Dom Bruno told us that 
these interruptions of their night's rest were what cost them 
most in their life. They spend their days in the most com- 
plete isolation ; what is called their cell consists of two 
rooms, one in which they sleep, the other in which they 
work, either intellectually or with their hand.s, for some of 
them do carpenters' or joiners' work. Leading out of these 
two rooms, each has a small garden closed in with a wall ; 
the)' only meet in church, and never speak to one another 
except during their walks, which take place once or twice a 
week. They then walk two by two, but the choice of a 
companion is never left to them ; they arc changed about 



MARSHAL OUDINOT 403 

so that they shall not develop any habits or special friend- 
ships. Their food, although they never eat meat, is never- 
theless much more substantial than that of the Trappists, 
for instance ; thus they eat fish, eggs, and so on. Their 
meals are brought to them and put down outside in a 
revolving cupboard, which they turn round to take what 
has been brought them and to return the empty dish. 
The Carthusian Order does not exact so rigorous an 
abstinence as many of the others ; thus, when a new monk 
arrives, they carefully examine what comes back on the 
dish ; if he returns it quite empty, his portion is in- 
creased the next day, because all appetites are not 
uniform. 

I was much impressed by all I had seen and heard, and 
before letting the worthy Superior go, I asked him, with a 
certain apprehension, what we others, we worldly people, 
might hope for, when we compared our lives with those of 
these penitent saints. \ 

" Reassure yourself, madame," he said, " with the thought 
that we have voluntarily chosen the trials which we endure 
here, while those which are sent you, in the world in which 
you live, are imposed upon you by the will of God. You 
have not chosen them, and yet sometimes they must have 
seemed very hard to you to bear. Accept them sub- 
missively, and you will reach the same point as ourselves." 

Thereupon he bowed to us and wished us a good-night, 
while Brother Jean-Marie, pushing hospitality to its last 
limits, busied himself, with surprising activity, in warming 
our beds. 



404 MEMOIRS OF 

We commenced the next day, I think, by attending Low 
Mass, recited by one of the Fathers, but by dayhght it was 
not necessary to conceal our presence in the church. We 
were next taken to visit an uninhabited cell, so as to give 
us an idea of it : you have already read my description of 
it. We were then shown over the kitchen and the refec- 
tory, where all take a meal together on Sundays, with 
orders not to exchange a word. We ended with the library, 
a magnificent room decorated with many pictures all 
representing scenes from the life of St. Bruno. 

The descent on mule-back was still more fatiguing than 
the ascent. Personally, I was worn out by the time I 
reached the carriage, which brought us to Grenoble at ten 
o'clock in the evening. We were set down at the Marquis 
de Vaulserre's, who had placed his whole house, with its 
furniture, silver, linen, and so forth, at the entire disposal 
of Her Royal Highness. We needed the whole of the 26th 
to rest ourselves. 

On the 30th, M. le Due, Mme. la Duchesse d'Orl^ans, M. 
le Due de Chartres, and the Princcsse Louise, his sister, 
who had arrived on the evening of the 29th, came to pay a 
visit to Madame, Duchesse de Berry, and to the Infants. 
It was arranged to do the round of the public institutions 
together. The military ones, especially, are very important. 
The Princes and Princesses stayed to dinner. M. le Due 
de Blacas, the King of h'rancc's Ambassador, had arri\cd 
at the same time, to bring His Majesty's compliments to 
the King of Naples ; I applied to him at once, to know how 
far I was bound by the laws of hospitality in regard to the 



MARSHAL OUDINOT 



405 



Neapolitan ladies who were to accompany the Queen of 
Naples. 

" The first place belongs to you," he replied ; " never fail 
to take it." 

During the whole of this meeting, the Due de Blacas 
showed himself very French, and eminently gracious, espe- 
cially in what concerned myself. 

The King, Queen and Court of Naples and the young 
Queen of Spain were expected on the 31st. The Prin- 
cesses, daughters and sister to the King of Naples, wished 
to go and meet him unattended. It was decided that 
we should await the return of the whole party at the 
Prefect's, where Their Majesties were to sleep. We were 
at our posts between three and four o'clock when they 
arrived. After retiring for a little while to their apartments, 
the King and Queen, followed by all the Princesses, entered 
the drawing-room, where we were waiting. Madame, 
Duchesse de Berry, taking me by the hand, presented me 
to the King her father and the Queen her step-mother. 

They withdrew again, and then the time came for dinner; 
suddenly the door opened, and the King of Naples, followed 
by his Family, entered and came up to me. 

" Madame la Duchesse de Reggio," he said, " I am happy 
to have this opportunity of telling you that I know of your 
devotion to my daughter, the Duchesse de Berry, and that 
I appreciate it highly." 

These kind words on the part of the Sovereign moved 
me deeply ; I had, moreover, made it a labour of love to 
contribute to the success of a reception offered to a King of 



4o6 MEMOIRS OF 

the Bourbon Family visiting the States of a Bourbon on 
the Throne of France. 

Here is a short description of the appearance of the 
NeapoHtan Court. The King, very energetic in his move- 
ments, was shattered with a violent attack of rheumatism. 
The Queen his wife, sister to Ferdinand VII., to whom 
she was about to marry her daughter, wore an expression 
of great kindness. She was still nursing her twelfth child, 
the Count of Trapani. The Queen-elect was twenty-four 
years of age and extremely pretty. She maintained a great 
reserve before the King her father, who wielded with 
authority his two-fold sceptre as King and father of his 
family. Next came the Infant. Among the officers and 
ladies attached to the Court of Naples, I will mention 
Prince Scilla and the Duchesses of San Martino and San 
Valantino. 

The return journey commenced ; it was strewn with 
great receptions and fetes. There was a recrudescence of 
zeal and of loud cheering at the sight of Madame, Duchesse 
de Berry, since she had left Dauphine ; but it was to her 
personally that this enthusiasm was directed. However, 
the King of Naples replied to all the speeches which were 
addressed to him personally ; but the text of his replies 
did not contain great varict}', for, to tell the truth, he 
harped upon the fact that he was being thanked for being 
" the father of his daughter." 

We parted from the Neapolitan Princes on the Spanish 
frontier. The journey was over ! I cannot describe to you 
my delight at rejoining my husband, my children, and at 



MARSHAL OUDINOT 



407 



last enjoying comparative repose. . . . For the winter of 
1829 to 1830 did not put an end to my occupations: on 
the contrary ! 

What most painfully struck your father and myself was 
the imminence of an ever-increasing danger that threatened 
the reigning Dynasty. The blindness of its friends seemed 
to lend a fatal assistance to the various parties that opposed 
it. One of the great features of the period which we had 
now reached was the preparations which \vere being made 
for the Algerian campaign. The Polignac Ministry had 
brought General de Bourmont to the War Office. No 
sooner was he in office than he saw a prospect of immediate 
war for the Government in which he was to play so active 
a part, and he demanded and at once obtained the com- 
mand-in-chief of the landed forces. He and his four sons 
had determined to die or distinguish themselves. In the 
meanwhile the seals of the War Office were held by the 
Comte de Champagny. Strange and deplorable results of 
party spirit ! In a nation generally so sympathetically in- 
clined for war, this particular war, from the first rumours 
concerning it, excited loud. disapproval. The masses had 
clearly resolved to blame the actions of the Ministry before 
weighing their motives. Nevertheless, the preparations 
were hurried forward, and by the spring of 1830 we were 
prepared to hurl our land and sea forces against that nest 
of pirates. 

When I returned to Paris, Madame, Duchesse de Berry, 
was greatly busied with the approaching arrival of the 
King and Queen of Naples. They were to be received as 



4o8 MEMOIRS OF 

Bourbons and Sovereigns, in other words, with all possible 
display. I confess that I was alarmed for the foreign 
Princes at the thought of the want of sympathy which they 
would possibly be shown by the crowd. The Revolution 
was already seething, particularly in Paris. I should have 
wished that this Court, which it was our pleasure and our 
honour to receive in a suitable fashion, might be spared 
the sight of the troubles that underran our capital. 

At the beginning of May, Madame, Duchesse de Berry, 
obtained leave from the King to go as far as Blois to meet 
the King her father. With us in the carriage was the 
Prince of Salerno, brother to Francis I., and much younger 
than he. He was gay and spirited, and in his earlier visits 
to Paris, his manners had been greatly liked. We slept at 
Blois, where the ordinary receptions took place. W'c next 
stopped at Chateaudun. Our third halting-place was the 
Chateau de Rambouillet, where M. le Dauphin and Mme. 
la Dauphine had come to await Their Neapolitan Majesties, 
who returned with them and took up their quarters in the 
Paiais-Bourbon. 

Towards the end of April was held a grand review in 
the Champ-de-Mars, which the Marshal commanded. It 
was the last outing of that fine Royal Guard. It was 
the Sovereign's farewell to the picked troops who, be- 
fore three months were past, were to fight at their posts 
of honour in the streets of Paris. My children, you must 
retain a vague recollection of that memorable morning. 
Was it a presentiment which imbued your father with the 
desire that you should be present, young as you were, at 



MARSHAL OUDINOT 409 

this review, the last which Marshal Oudinot held at the 
head of an army ? And you, my grand-children, would 
have felt an indescribable emotion if you had ever seen the 
warlike attitude which distinguished the Marshal when, 
passing before the King on horseback, he saluted with his 
sword with a chivalrous grace which I have never seen 
except in him. 

On the 1st of May, my husband handed over the 
command of the Royal Guard to his colleague Marshal 
Marmont, his successor for the ensuing quarter, and left to 
prepare to preside over the electoral college at Verdun, 
spending at Jeand'heurs the time that elapsed before its 
meetings. 

The august visitors were no sooner installed in Paris 
than we were all busied in showing them all that was to 
be seen and in entertaining them in every possible manner. 
There was play at the King's, receptions at Madame's, 
performances in all the theatres. The King of Naples 
wished particularly to attend a performance at the 
Gymnase, which, if you remember, was under Madame's 
immediate protection. We also went to Compiegne, where 
splendid hunting-parties were given which delighted the 
Court of Naples. Charles X. was an admirable horseman, 
and followed the hounds as a young man might have 
done. 

Madame, Duchesse de Berry, had asked and obtained an 

unusual favour to which she attached immense price. 

This was to receive her son for the first time at Rosny — 

Rosny, her joy, where during the course of each year, she 
27 



4IO MEMOIRS OF 

spent days of delight which she strove to make as rustic 
as possible. She had once brought her daughter with her ; 
but as to M. le Due de Bordeaux, for whom they would 
have set a regiment marching, or what you will, she had 
not as yet dared hope to receive him here. The oppor- 
tunity was a good one, since the King and Queen of Naples 
were preparing to stay at Rosny. By a still more special 
favour, the King of France declared that he too would be 
of the party. The whole family of M. le Due and Mme. 
la Duchesse d'Orleans was also invited to this gathering, 
the preparations and details of which, as you may imagine, 
required infinite care. 

On their return to Paris, the Courts of France and 
Naples were invited by M. le Due and Mme. la Duchesse 
d'Orleans to a magnificent ball. As an exceptional fact, 
it was intimated that the King of France would be present. 
Naturally all the guests, even the Court of Naples, arrived 
at the Palais-Royal before the King was expected. It was 
in the middle of June. All Paris was out of doors, and 
naturally turned towards the spot where the ball was being 
given, a spot always so crowded, and this time offering an 
infrequent and curious spectacle. Never were the police 
precautions more neglected than on this occasion ; it was 
with unexampled difficulty that we were able to penetrate 
through the stream of peo[)le who, if they showed no 
hostility, neither gave any sign of pleasure. An eager 
curiosity was all that we were able to distinguish in the 
crowd. 

Upon our arrival, we found the family of M. le Due 



MARSHAL OUDINOT 411 

d'Orleans in a state of extreme agitation and alarm at the 
news they had heard of this compact crowd which the 
King would have to pass through. They had eyes for no 
one, not even the Court of Naples, and it was clear that the 
arrival of the King of France absorbed all their thoughts. 
He appeared at last ; received all the masters of the palace 
with his habitual grace and serenity ; and in order to reach the 
place prepared for him, crossed all those magnificent rooms 
filled with the elegance of Paris. In the hope of catching 
sight of some of the fete, the crowd, which was numerous 
everywhere, had with redoubled ardour come to pack itself 
in the gardens of the Palais-Royal, which were brilliantly 
lighted. One saw nothing but heads, touching each other, 
without any interval. How many thousands can there 
have been .-' I do not know, but we were able to form an 
idea of this agglomeration when the King, agreeing to the 
proposal of M le Due d'Orleans, walked round the outer 
galleries, followed by all the Princes and Princesses. The 
King, in uniform, wearing his blue riband and all his orders, 
walked easily, and looked out with his customary bene- 
volence upon the immense populace which thronged be- 
neath him. There rose shouts, but it was impossible 
to distinguish their true meaning. I have retained the 
impression that amid a display of great curiosity and 
of perhaps a little affection, the crowd seemed to solicit 
something from the King. To my belief, it was a change 
of Ministry. 

When this promenade along the outer galleries was 
finished, the King stepped inside to watch the commence- 



412 MEMOIRS OF 

merit of the official quadrilles ; but no sooner had the 
crowd lost him from sight, than loud cries issued from its 
midst. A flanie sprang up suddenly; it came from all 
the chairs in the Palais-Royal garden, which had been 
heaped up to make room, and which took fire without its 
ever being discovered who was guilty of the outrage. I 
remember that the Cointe de Rumily, aide-de-camp to 
]\I. le Due d'Orleans, was as one distraught, and said 
to me : 

"Ah ! now we shall be accused of not taking all possible 
precautions, whereas there is not one of which we did not 
ourselves make certain." 

I do not know whose fault it was. The public accused 
the Prefect of Police of inactivity, but it was generally 
believed that, in so far as the blaze was concerned, this 
had been caused by a discarded cigar-end. In any case, 
the sight was a very exciting one, but there were no serious 
accidents reported as the result of the fire. The departure 
of the King, through the same crowd, was effected without 
difficulty, and the ball was continued with great spirit. 

This was the end of the official pleasures of my poor 
Princess . . . She danced till daj'break, and I remember 
that a fine sunrise lighted my drive home. 

I had come to the end of my strength, and I begged for 
a leave of some weeks in order to join my husband at Jean- 
d'heurs, secretly resolved to return for the opening of the 
Chambers, which marked the moment when would burst 
out, not a radical revolution — we were far from believing 
that — but an inevitable struggle. I wished to be present 



MARSHAL OUDINOT 



413 



at this, and I went home to recover the necessary strength. 
As I have said, my husband, who had been appointed by 
the King chairman of the electoral college of Verdun, had 
left at the commencement of May, and I remember that 
during the visit to Rosny, the King, enquiring after the 
Marshal, asked me : 

"What shall we obtain from the elections?" 

"None but Opposition members, Sire!" 

" Pooh ! out of four returned, won't there be one on the 
ministerial side? " 

" He does not think so, Sire." 

The King did not seem convinced ; nothing would move 
him from his sense of security. Not only did he deceive 
himself, but he was deceived by those about him. I heard 
him say about this time that, to satisfy his conscience as a 
Sovereign, he read the papers of the most opposite shades, 
in order to be informed of the opinion of the masses. 

"Well then," he added, ''when you come to learn the 
number of subscribers, you see, for instance, that the Gazette 
de France has six times as many as the Constitionnel." 

The exact contrary was the case. Who could thus have 
deceived the good King over a material calculation which 
it was not possible for him to verify for himself? 

At the end of the first fortnight in June, I announced 
to the Marshal my approaching arrival at Jeand'heurs. I 
wanted to see him again before his departure for Verdun. 
I was quietly making my preparations and my farewell 
calls in Paris. One morning I had forbidden my door in 
the Place Vendome, when I saw Marshal Marmont, Due 



414 MEMOIRS OF 

de Raguse, arrive, who had insisted upon seeing me. He 
had, if you remember, taken up liis three-monthly service 
as Major- General on the 1st of May. He had just come 
from Saint-Cloud, where the King was already in residence 
for the summer. 

"They tell me you are going back to Oudinot," he said. 
"Tell him again what I have told him so often, that he is 
the luckiest of men and I the most unlucky. I have found 
a new proof of this in the events of the day ; your husband 
has passed on to me the baton of command for the precise 
quarter during which the Government is about to take the 
most dangerous and fatal measures, and during my com- 
mand of the Royal Guard I shall have to give military 
support to resolutions which I deplore as much for the 
Dynasty as for the country. Ah, if I escape the almost 
certain hazard which I look upon as immediate, I shall ask 
for a long leave, and let all these questions be fought out 
without me, while I remove far from P'rancc the fatality 
which has always pursued me." 

I listened to Marshal Marmont sadly, although I en- 
deavoured to refute his sombre predictions. 

"No," he resumed,"! can hardly be deceived since I 
havt been at Saint-Cloud, in a position to obser\e all that 
goes on about the King ; I cannot doubt that a coup iV Etat 
is on the point of bursting forth." 

Thereupon he left me, and I only saw him once more, 
when I was myself at Saint-Cloud on the eve of my 
departure. There I dined with the Comte de Coss6- 
Brissac, one of our best friends, together with a large 



MARSHAL OUDINOT . 415 

number of other guests, including the Due de Mortemart, 
who sat beside me. He had just returned on leave from 
St. Petersburg, where he was our Ambassador. 

" What is all this that is happening here, madame la 
duchesse .-" " he asked. " I feel as though I had fallen from 
the clouds ; all I see and hear makes me dread a coup 
d'Etat as dangerous as it is ill-placed." 

This language of men devoted to France and to the 
King proved to me more and inore that a crisis was in- 
evitable ; but I only expected it for the meeting of the 
Chambers in September, and I hurried as much as possible 
to join my husband and make the most of the short leave 
which we would be able to enjoy together. As I courtesied 
to the King that day at Saint-Cloud, I little thought that 
it was the last time I should see him or any of his august 
Family. Madame, Duchesse de Berry, had stayed in Paris 
in order to be with the Court of Naples till the last. I 
took leave of her at the Pavilion de Marsan. 

I left with my daughters on the 25th of June. We had 
scarcely passed the first relays when my carriage broke. 
It was only a slight accident, and it was being repaired, 
when a loud noise was heard behind us. My carriage was 
drawn to the side of the road, in order to leave the middle 
of the road to a number of equipages with six horses 
apiece. The servants wore the livery of M. le Due 
d'Orleans, who with his family and suite was conducting 
the Court of Naples to his place at Rency. My children 
and I, who had alighted while our carriage was being 
repaired, recognized every face. All passed before us like 



4i6 * MEMOIRS OF 

an arrow from the bow. It was the last picture we carried 
away in our recollection. 

Shortly after my arrival we were able to celebrate the 
capture of Algiers. It was a great triumph for our mili- 
tary and naval forces ; we rejoiced at it with all our 
hearts, and I still feel indignation at the spirit of opposi- 
tion which had permeated through the masses and pre- 
vented them from rejoicing, like true Frenchmen, at so 
great a triumph. 

The general uneasiness penetrated even into our country 
life. At last we reached the 27th of July. The Marshal 
— I can still see him — was playing picquct with the Mar- 
quis de Montmort ; the rest of the company and I were 
on the step of the great court-yard when we saw an ex- 
press trotting up from M, de Caunan, who had lately been 
appointed Prefect of the Meuse. He brought a message 
announcing the Orders in Council. . . . 

Several voices exclaimed, "Ah, there will be firing ! " 

" Perhaps not," replied the Marshal, who, with an ap- 
parent calmness with which he was endowed, especially for 
great occasions, always endeavoured to preserve the cool- 
ness of others ; " we must wait and see." 

As far as he was concerned, he was in a very lawful 
position, under the guarantee of an official order of the 
King, who had sent him to the Meuse as president of an 
electoral college ; and during the period of the terrible 
days that ensued, he was obliged to say to himself, " I am 
at my post, and my Sovereign knows where to find mc, so 
as to send me to my command at Metz if necessary ; and I 



MARSH JL OUDINOT 417 

cannot and must not attempt to hasten to another field to 
which I have not yet been summoned, and thus risk crossing 
with useful orders which might be addressed to me here." 
He was able to, and did, say to himself, " In case a new- 
revolution is threatened, they would not repeat the mistake 
they committed in 181 5, when they neglected to send me 
my orders in time to that military post of incontestable 
importance; I am within twenty-five leagues of it, and 
they know that ; let us not spoil anything as the result of 
an intemperate zeal which might lead me aside from the 
useful and lawful road in which I am at present. In any 
case," said the Marshal to me, " you, my dear, who are in 
a special position, and particularly attached to the person 
of your Princess : if circumstances become difficult for her, 
you will go to her at once." 

I must remind you that at this time we were still reduced 
to the slow service of the ordinary post. We were not 
on the line of the aerial telegraphs, and communications 
underwent a delay of which you have no idea nowa- 
days ; and in spite of our eager impatience, which dated 
from the first news of the Orders, we were necessarily 
between twenty-four and thirty-six hours behind events. 
At last the news of the 28th July, which did not reach us 
until the 29th or 30th, determined my personal departure. 
The Marshal sent with me his first aide-de-camp, the 
Comte de Bourcet, and I started with the two-fold object 
of returning to my post at the moment of danger and of 
obtaining orders and directions for the Marshal from the 
King. 



41 8 MEMOIRS OF 

The details which decided my departure were such tliat 
it was with extreme emotion that I left my husband and 
children behind me. ... I knew not how far I should 
be able to travel, nor what I should find when I arrived. 
They were fighting in the streets of Paris, that was all 
that seemed to be certain. In this conviction, it was 
decided that if I could come w^ithin sight of the capital, 
in order to know whether it was possible to cross the 
barricades with which it was filled, I should first turn 
aside and go to Stains, which is two leagues on our side 
of it, and then go to my post, employing every possible 
chance of reaching it. 

All the public services were suspended ; there were no 
diligences on the road, which we travelled as fast as pos- 
sible. At one place where we stopped, we heard that 
the population of Paris had triumphed over the army, and 
especially over the Royal Guard, and had loaded the guns 
with human bodies, including that of Marshal Marmont. 
... In spite of the horror of this information, in whicli I 
refused to believe, you will understand nevertheless that 
my impressions grew gloomier as we approached the 
capital. At Epernay we were asked for our passports. 
A company of National Guards, more than hostile and 
almost brutal, surrounded us with their bayonets. I had 
assumed one of my Christian names for the purpose of 
this passport, which had been given me at Bar. M. de 
Bourcet, who had cut off his mustachios, declared himself 
to be a merchant, and at last we were allowed to i^ass, 
after being looked upon with great suspicion. 



MARSHAL OUDINOT 419 

At last we reached Stains, and I immediately despatched 
M. de Bourcet to Paris. We had learnt the worst of the 
events that had taken place. I had read Louis-Philippe's 
proclamation, which contained the following words : " The 
Charter will at last be a truth," &c. This document had 
followed upon the successive abdications of the King and 
M, le Dauphin, both of which were signed in favour of M. 
le Due de Bordeaux, whose minority was entrusted to M. 
le Due d'Orleans, appointed Regent of the Kingdom by 
Charles X. The Prince's proclamation was silent as to this 
fact, and I learnt, moreover, that the whole Royal Family 
had been obliged to leave Saint-Cloud and to flee before 
the triumphant revolution. 

Whither had it fled ? How did the present stand .'' 
How the future ? All this succession of events had been 
communicated to me in one breath during my stoppage 
at Stains by an old relation of M. Hainguerlot, who 
occupied the estate. Need I depict to you my anguish 
while waiting for fresh details .'' Every minute seemed 
a century, and yet everyone did all in his power to assist 
me. 

General Pajol had at once assumed a prominent position 
in the Provisional Government, and his wife — your sister, 
my children — was the first person who came to see me. 
Laying aside the triumph of her opinion, which had been 
consistently opposed to the Restoration since the Hundred 
Days, she saw before her nothing but my personal lot, of 
which she understood all the duties and difficulties. Plac- 
ing herself entirely at my disposal, she returned to Paris, 



42 MEMOIRS OF 

at rrv}' request, to beg her husband to procure me, by 
means of his new powers, the means of joining the Royal 
Family, whose whereabouts were at that time still un- 
known. On the other hand arrived M. and Mme. de 
Vatry, with their pockets full of bank-notes, which they 
placed at my disposition in case I was to set out at once 
for some unknown place of exile. The precautions I had 
taken saved me from the necessity of accepting their great 
kindness. 

M. de Bourcet returned heart-broken and distraught 
at the things he had seen in Paris. Kind M. de Xain- 
trailles, another of my husband's aides-de-camp, had also 
hastened to offer me his services. 1 was filled with grati- 
tude, but my fevered mind, wandering from your father to 
you, my children, and from you to the Royal Family, did 
not know where to find rest. Dear Mme. de Vatry herself 
served me with an improvised supper which she had cooked 
with her own hands in the kitchen. I threw myself for a 
few hours on my bed, and awoke on the morning of the 2nd 
of August more broken than ever, to await my news from 
Paris. Mme. Pajol returned with the reply of the Pro- 
visional Government, which was presided over by Marshal 
Gerard. It was to the effect that no human power could 
at that moment assure my safe journey through a popular 
rising which was that very day directing its steps from 
Paris to the Chateau de Rambouillet, where the King and 
his Family had taken refuge. 

In this extremity there was, I thought, but one step for 
me to take : to return to my husband, explain the situation 



MARSHAL OUDINOT 421 

to him, and take his orders before joining an emigration 
which was bound to be the result of recent events. Then, 
if he gave me liberty of action, I could place my children, 
who were still very young, in a place of safety, and as 
quickly as possible join in her exile the Princess with whom 
I had lived when she was on the steps of the Throne. 

With this intention I addressed the following letter to 
Her Royal Highness : 

" Stains, 9 August 1830. 

" Madame, 

" At the first news of the terrible troubles in Paris, I 
set out to come and join you. I was able to come as far 
as here, whence I hoped to reach Saint-Cloud. Your 
Royal Highness had just left. . . . No one is able to tell me 
exactly where you are. In my deep sorrow, not wishing 
to set foot in Paris, I am returning to the only spot of 
ground which belongs to me. If I there find my husband 
and my children, if God, whom I implore for them and for 
you, Madame, allows me to meet them again, I will await 
your orders in that spot, prepared at the first summons 
that reaches me from Your Royal Highness, to share your 
prison or your exile, if such is to be your lot. 

" Adieu, Madame. Believe that my torn heart is always 
faithful to you. I am, &c." 

After writing this letter, I handed it to M. Morel, for 
whom I 'had sent to Stains ; he faithfully carried out his 
instructions. I had left my letter open, and again through 
General Pajol's intermediary, I applied to the Provisional 



422 MEMOIRS OF 

Government to protect my messenger, and assist him in 
reaching- his destination with all possible speed ; but 
General Pajol was unable to see to this in person, because 
he had placed himself at the head of the popular move- 
ment which was directed upon Rambouillet, with the 
object of hastening the Royal Family's departure from 
France. I have always believed that the intention both 
of General Pajol and of Colonel Jacqueminot, who accom- 
panied him, was to restrain this populace which it was 
impossible to hold back, and to oppose with all their 
might any attempts which should go beyond threats. 
Nevertheless, it was a melancholy command for these two 
brilliant soldiers to hold. 

They were joined at Rambouillet by commissaries of 
the so-called Government of the moment, who preceded 
the mob and warned the King, who consented to admit 
them to his presence. It was Marshal Maison and M. 
Odilon Barrot in particular who acted as spokesmen. 
And dear it cost them ! 

The King could still have defended himself with the 
troops which had accompanied him so far, but his sorrow 
at the blood which had already been spilt, and the fear 
of causing still more to flow, decided him to take the road 
of exile at once. . . . 
You know the rest. . . . 

Nothing particular interfered with our return journe)', 
although there was considerable traflic along the road. 
We observed in particular a number of men walking singly 
and dressed in blue blouses; almost all of these seemed to 



MARSHAL OUDINOT 423 

be new, and we soon guessed that they must be soldiers of 
the Guard which had been dissolved by the force of events 
and which was quickly disbanded. Thus it was for doing 
their duty that these brave troops were obliged to conceal 
their uniforms before Frenchmen and brothers ! 

Victor, who had obtained leave to go to the Pyrenees 
with his wife, hastened back to his command at Saumur, 
not to recognize the new Government, because he sent in 
his resignation at once, but to keep order within the 
Cavalry School until he should be replaced. 

I reached Jeand'heurs at the same time as Marshal 
Molitor, who had arrived from his seat to arrange with my 
husband as to what was to be done. I described all I had 
seen and heard, but I was not yet able to tell anything of 
what had happened at Rambouillet since I had left Stains. 

One important fact had at last become known to all : 
this was the conditional abdication, of which I have spoken 
above, of Charles X. in favour of the Dauphin his son, and 
of the latter in favour of the Due de Bordeaux, placing the 
government in the hands of M. le Due d'Orleans as Regent 
during the minority of the child. This document was 
deposited in the State archives, and must be there still ; 
but M. le Due d'Orleans, while accepting the Regency, 
kept silence as to the rest. The Chambers were convoked, 
and the two marshals had no doubt but that the hereditary 
rights of M. le Due de Bordeaux would be, if not recog- 
nized, at least discussed ; and it was with this thought that 
they both left Jeand'heurs, on the 5th of August, to take 
their places in the House of Peers, and put the weight of 



424 MEMOIRS OF 

their votes and opinions in the balance in favour of M. le 
Due de Bordeaux. 

I will not enter into the details which, to my husband's 
great grief, obliged him to recognize the only power which, 
in this alarming crisis, offered to save France from a stormy 
republic, with all its terrible consequences. He realized in 
the end that he owed the support of his person and of his 
lofty military position to his country. But though this 
decision satisfied his conscience, it grievously afflicted his 
heart. I on my side bent beneath the weight of so many 
emotions, and waited from hour to hour for the decision 
which Madame, Duchesse de Berry, would take with re- 
spect to myself. I had heard particulars of the departure 
from Rambouillet, and I knew that they were making for 
Normandy, and that M. Morel had been able to leave and 
follow the same road ; but where would it lead the Royal 
Family and my messenger? 

A long week was spent in this uncertainty, when at last 
arrived, not M. Morel in person, as I expected, but a letter 
from him, informing me that he had succeeded in joining 
Madame, Duchesse de Berry, in Calvados, and sending me 
Her Ro}'al Ilighness's reply, of which this is a copy: 

" Virc (Calvados), ii August. 

" I have received your note, dear duchesse, and it was 
like you to send it. As we do not know where we shall 
go after stopping at Cherbourg, I advise you to stay quietly 
at Jcand'hcurs ; so soon as I have arrived anywhere, I will 
write to you. 



MARSHAL OUDINOr 



425 



" I have sent M. Nichols to Paris to arrange my afifairs 

.and pay my debts, so that every one may be satisfied under 

these circumstances. He will come to an arrangement 

with Sassenay, Morel, Cuchetet, Mme. de Noailles, as 

regards the different services and the money. 

" He has an unlimited power of attorney. 

" My children are well ; I, sad at leaving this beautiful 
France, which I regarded as my country. Pray for us and 
make your children pray : I embrace them. As for your- 
self, believe that, in misfortune as in prosperity, you have 

no better friend than 

« C. 

" MM. de Mesnard and de Brissac, Mmes. de Bouille and 
Charette send you their kind regards." 

She told me to wait at Jeand'heurs and to stay there 
quietly ; I naturally accepted the former recommendation ; 
as to the latter, it did not lie with me to submit to it. The 
Marshal's position in Paris, the general condition of the 
Kingdom, the thoughts with which the august exiles 
inspired me, were not these enough to bring sadness to my 
days and sleeplessness to my nights ? I waited, but not 
without renewing my instances to Madame to be allowed to 
rejoin her, when I knew she was settled in Edinburgh. She 
did not accept my offer, and our relations were suspended 
until the day when I heard she was imprisoned at Blaye. 

The Revolution of 1830, like that of 18 [5, brought about 

a fresh change in my husband's position and fortune. The 

Marshal had stayed in Paris, where all was in a ferment, 
28 



426 MEMOIRS OF 

with his son Auguste, who, deprived of liis commission in 
the Hussars of the Guard, beheld, while in the flower of 
his age, his chances of promotion shattered for the second 
time. By an anomaly upon which history will pronounce 
its judgment, the Revolution of July, not content with 
deposing the King and his successors, acted with nameless 
inconsistency, and wished to penalize the Ministers, who 
were always responsible, under a Constitutional Charter, 
for what it blamed the Sovereign himself for. But logically 
it must be one thing or the other, and so soon as the 
Throne was upset, the responsibility of the Ministry dis- 
appeared with it. And yet they were violently preparing 
to impeach that Ministry. The Marshal stayed in Paris 
with the intention of bringing the weight of his opinion 
and of his exertions to bear in favour of impartiality. 

The exasperation of the public was directed mainly 
against the head of the late Cabinet, the Prince Jules dc 
Polignac. If the latter had erred in judgment, he had 
sufficient heart to believe in its existence in others ; and 
amidst the cries of death which threatened his head, he 
conceived the noble thought of confiding his defence to his 
principal antagonist, M. de Martignac, the head of the pre- 
ceding Cabinet. His appeal did not fall upon deaf ears ; 
and that noble heart, whose beats were numbered, know- 
ingl)^ and at the risk of what remained of his life, accepted 
this great task. He never fell below the level of the situa- 
tion, and the last accents of this ever powerful and persuasive 
voice left an eternal remembrance of the man M. dc Mar- 
tignac was. He did not survive his advocacy many months. 



MARSHAL OUDINOT 427 

Thenceforward we spent the three winter months at Bar, 
the town to which I was so attached, while each spring 
found us once more at Jeand'heurs. The cholera which 
broke out in 1832 crushed our family by the death of my 
step-daughter, the Comtesse Pajol, that exceptionally gifted 
creature, who was carried away in the prime of life. The 
pestilence committed ravages everywhere, and especially 
in Lorraine. 

For some time I had been greatly agitated by the war 
in the Vendee attempted by Madame, Duchesse de Berry. 
I had followed her destinies with my heart ; I knew that 
she had left the King and the Royal Family in Edinburgh 
to go to Italy, where she had spent almost the whole of 
the year 1831. I had for some time been ignorant of 
Madame's movements, when, in the spring of 1832, the news 
spread of her arrival in Provence, followed soon after by 
her march to the Vendee. I beheld a mother's devotion in 
this bold resolve, but I did not for a moment believe in its 
success. I suffered agonies, therefore, during the period of 
this hazardous enterprise. My fears were vague, but they 
were realized in the early part of November, when we 
received, with all its heart-rending details, the news of Her 
Royal Highness's arrest, and heard that she had first been 
imprisoned in Nantes Castle, and next sent, by sea, to a 
citadel at Blaye ! 

Nantes ! where two years before I had seen her, so to 
speak, carried shoulder high in triumph ! Blaye ! where 
in the same year she had been received with transports I 

You can well imagine that my first movement was to 



428 MEMOIRS OF 

demand the place m attendance on her, in her State 
prison, which I had formerly the right to occupy at the 
Tuileries. This is the letter which I at once wrote to the 
august prisoner : 

" Madame, 

" Since the news of your arrest, I have but one 
thought, that of sharing your captivity. I would have 
endeavoured to do so at once, had I not been told that, 
before all, Your Royal Highness's permission was neces- 
sary. I ask this from your old kindness for me. 
" I have the honour to be, &c. 
*' Jeand'heurs, ii Novemlier 1832." 

To this letter, which I left unsealed, I added another. 
Relying upon the promise which Queen Marie Amelia, 
immediately after she was called to share her husband's 
throne, had made me declare to her, to 7ise Jicr autJiority 
upon every occasion ivhen I should stcDid in need of it, I 
addressed the following letter to her : 

" Madame, 

" I come to beg of your kindness a favour upon which 
I set the highest value : it is that you will be so good as 
to read and cause to be conveyed to Madame, Duchesse 
de Berry, the enclosed letter ; and if the offer which it 
contains is accepted, I sliall also ha\-e to beg \\>ur 
Majesty's assistance so that the gates of the prison may 
be opened to me. 

"If my request is bold, I implore \ou to forgive me; 



MARSHAL OUDINOT 429 

but, under the circumstances, I could think of nothing but 
to turn to Your Majesty, of whose kindness to me I am so 
well assured. 

" Persuaded as I am that no one will see any political 
intention in the step I am taking, I feel, from the con- 
fidence with which I am moved, that I shall not have 
reason to regret my impulse. 

" I have the honour to be, &c. 

* ' Jeand'heurs, li November 1832. 

I enclosed both these letters to General Oudinot, and 
asked him to obtain an audience of the Queen at once. 
This was immediately granted him, and he found her in 
tears. 

" I was prepared," said she, " for this step on your step- 
mother's part, and I wish with all my heart that she may 
reach my niece. It does not depend wholly upon me ; it 
must be brought before the Ministers in Council ; but 
you can rely upon my wishes and my good-will." 

My letters were brought before the Council and dis- 
cussed. An express was sent to Blaye, and the following 
reply reached me, unsealed, by care of the President of 
the Council, Marshal Soult : 

" Chateau de Blaye, 23 November 1832. 

"You cannot doubt, my dear duchesse, how touched I 
was at receiving your letter, which was sent me enclosed 
in a very charming note from the Marquis Oudinot, whom 
I beg you to thank for me. I do not accept your offer ; 



430 MEMOIRS OF 

the sacrifice would be too cjreat. I know how much your 
family needs your care, and I should never forgive myself 
for depriving them of it. I shall be very glad to have 
news of you and yours. 

" Do not doubt, my dear duchesse, my gratitude and my 
friendship. 

" My health is not good, but I have courage and 
patience. 

{Signed) " Marik-Caroline. 

" M. de Mesnard begs to be remembered to you." 
To this I replied as follows : 

" Bar-le-Duc, I December 1832. 

" On reading your generous refusal, inspired by my 
family feeling and duties, I thought that I ought to have 
the honour to renew my application, assuring you, Madame, 
that I should consider nothing too much to surround you 
with the care which my duty and my respect command me ; 
for it is especially in a circumstance of this kind that it 
behoves me to give )'ou a proof of the attachment with 
which }-our former kindness has inspired me." 

The above words, my children, are copied from the draft 
in }'our father's handwriting ; I made so little alteration 
in the sense of his words that I prefer to give his text 
rather than mine. Hut meanwhile the Marshal was 
suddenly seized with an illness so serious that it made 
us dread cholera, which was still so near us! General 
Oudinot, his wife anti his son arrived at once ; prompt 



MARSHAL OUDINOT 431 

care delivered us from our mortal fears, and we arrived 
at Bar, so as, in this bad season of the year, to be more 
within reach of assistance. It was only from there that, 
on the 14th of December, I despatched my second letter 
to Madame, Duchesse de Berry, enclosing it to Marshal 
Soult, with the following lines : 

" Monsieur le mar£ciial, 

" My husband's serious and painful illness has taken 
up all my thought and time, and has prevented me until 
to-day from sending my reply to the letter of Madame, 
Duchesse de Berry. I am now easier in my mind, and my 
first care, monsieur le marechal, is once more to beg you to 
be so good as to forward my renewed application to Blaye. 

" If in the first instance I applied to the Queen, this was 
not to deny your competency, monsieur la marechal, but 
so as to have a powerful chance of success the more ; I 
knew that this affair would subsequently follow its usual 
course and fall beneath your influence, which I was far 
from doubting. 

" General Oudinot has not failed to tell me of your kind 
disposition towards me. The reason I am not confiding 
this letter to him to deliver to you is that he is detained 
here on account of his father's health." 

Here is the Marshal's reply : 

"Paris, 20 December 1832. 

" Madame la mar£chale, 

" I learnt with much regret from the letter which you 
did me the honour to write to me on the 14th of this month 



432 MEMOIRS OF 

that M. le Marcchal Due dc Rcggio was ill and in great 
pain ; but I have since heard the good news of his recovery 
to health. I beg you to assure him of my sympathy. 

" Your letter enclosed one for Madame, Duchesse de 
Berry. I have the honour to inform you that I have for- 
warded it to M. le Colonel Chousserie, principal governor 
of the Citadel of Blaye, who will deliver it. 
" Accept, madame la marcchale, &c., 

{SJg}ted) " Marshal Due de Dalmatie." 

I received no answer to my letter of the ist of December, 
and it was a great shock to me when in the course of 
the winter of 1832 to 1833 I read, in the Monitcjir, an 
official declaration of Madame, Duchesse de Berry, dated 
from Blaye, and announcing that Her Royal Highness 
had contracted a second marriage during her stay in 
Italy in 1831. It was not until later that the Princess 
declared that she had married Count di Lucchesi-Palli 
whose name had not appeared in her first announcement. 
She doubtless had political motives for suppressing this 
name which she alone was able to appreciate; but all her 
friends regretted this omission, which was not easily ex- 
plained in the e)'es of the public. The authentic proofs of 
this union are incontestable ; but Madame did not think fit 
to sui)[)]\' them until later. 

The first child born of this seciMul marriage was a 
daughter. It was born at Blaye, a short while before the 
liberation of Her Royal Highness, who took ship with the 
child. Count di Lucchesi had come to meet his wife. 



MARSHAL OUDINOT 



433 



They sailed to Italy, and it was long before we heard any 
details concerning the new mode of life which her Royal 
Highness had adopted. We only knew that she had been 
very fraternally received by King Ferdinand, her brother. 

After all these events, I secluded myself more than 
ever in my life at Jeand'heurs. We come to June 1835. 
Auguste's letters, more and more exciting and more and 
more honourable in all that concerned his difficult duties as 
chief of a corps, kept us in a feverish alternation, when 
suddenly he announced to us, as a sort of deliverance for 
him, that he was at last about to march against Abd-el- 
Kader, who was defying the French army in the province 
of Oran. 

" General Trezel," said Auguste in his letter, " takes an 
enormous responsibility upon himself in attacking the Emir 
under our present conditions ; but as that question is not 
for me to decide, I only know one thing, and that is that 
we are at last going to fight the enemy." 

Here, my children, it needs all my courage to relate a 
catastrophe which rent all our hearts. So acute were the 
young colonel's presentiments on the eve of his departure 
for this campaign, that he made his will. Alas, he was 
but too right in what he foresaw ; and the ill-calculated 
engagement would have become disastrous for our arms, if 
Auguste's regiment (the 2nd Chasseurs d'Afrique), which 
formed the advance-guard, had not thrown itself into the 
post of danger. 

" Forwards ! " cried the colonel. " For the honour of the 
regiment ! Forwards ! " 



434 MEMOIRS OF 

He was the first, and tlie first to fall, struck with a bullet 
in the forehead. 

Your father was kept in Paris by the sittings of the 
House. His heart was pierced through and through. 
There are certain feelings that cannot be expressed. One 
day, when we were having a low mass said in the chapel of 
Jeand'heurs for this brave soul, the Marshal's sobs revealed 
his presence at this ceremony, of which we had not told 
him, so as to spare his sorrow. Soon there arrived from 
Africa Auguste's trunks, with his blood-stained arms. What 
a life was ours at Jeand'heurs after this misfortune ! What 
a terrible loss, this young man, with his brilliant future, who 
had always been the glory and the charm of his family ! 

In August 1837 my daughter Louise was asked in mar- 
riage by the young Comte Ludovic de Vesins. His name 
had appealed to me from the beginning because it had been 
borne by a friend of my father's, who had been imprisoned 
with him under the Revolution; and he himself was en- 
dowed with every gift. First introduced to us by the 
Comte de Courchamp, he one morning announced to us the 
approaching arrival of his father, whom all of )-ou, my 
children and grand-children, have known and honoured. 
The worthy and saintly Abbe de Vesins had married Mile, 
de Faramond when only twenty years of age, and had been 
left a widower with five children. He had embraced the 
ecclesiastical state eighteen months before he was called 
upon to bless the union of his eldest son with nu- daughter. 
The nuptial ceremony was celebrated at Jeand'heurs on the 
4th of October. 



MARSHAL OUniNOT 435 

Shortly afterwards, the Marshal, called to the House of 
Peers, went to Paris, after installing us at Bar-le-Duc for 
the winter. But man proposes and God disposes. Faithful 
to an old remembrance of which he made a duty, your 
father attended an anniversary service which was celebrated 
for Queen Hortense. The cold was severe, and your father 
brought back a serious illness from church. At first the 
grave nature of the attack was concealed from me ; but 
General Oudinot, with his kind friendliness, revealed the 
truth to me. I called for my post-horses, and for the 
first time for seven years found myself upon the road 
to Paris, which I was now about to enter under such 
sorrowful circumstances. I travelled with Caroline ; the 
young Vesins couple followed in their own carriage ; 
they stayed with the Marquis and Marquise Oudinot in 
the Rue de Bourgogne, where they were expected, while 
I joined my husband at the Hotel de Bruxelles in the Rue 
Richelieu. 

I found him much more changed than I expected ; and 
in fact he had suffered much more than either he or others 
had admitted to me. 

The Marshal told me that he had received exceptional 
proofs of sympathy in this circumstance ; and in particular 
a letter from Prince Louis-Napoleon, of which the following 
is a copy : 

"Gottlieb (I think), 14th February 1838. 

" Marshal, 

" I had charged Mme. Salvage to thank you on my 
behalf for your kindness in taking part in the last honours 



436 MEMOIRS OF 

shown to my mother : I did not wish myself to trouble you 
with my thanks ; but as I have just learnt that soon after 
the funeral ceremony in the Rue de Rucil }''ou were taken 
ill, I hasten to express to you my regret. Men who, like 
yourself, have contributed to shed lustre upon the Empire, 
are always sure of exciting in me a vivid sympathy ; and 
it is therefore with feelings of gratitude and of real interest 
that I write to you to-day to express my wishes for your 
prompt recovery. 

" Receive, monsieur le marechal, the assurance of my 
high esteem and of my distinguished sentiments. 

{Signed) " NAPOLEON LOUIS." 

On the other side, the reigning Family displayed a 
pressing solicitude throughout the IMarshal's illness. 

To return to the recent past, I have always thought that 
the Due d'Orleans saw the dangers multiply around the 
Elder Branch with the feeling that, there being no possi- 
bility of averting them, his own Dynast)- would doubtless 
one day profit by them. 1 have not a word to say in 
justification of this point of view. I say that when he was 
appointed Regent of the Kingdom by Charles X., he should 
have done ever)-thing in his power to protect the Royal 
Orphan ; and I will go further and sa\- that even the 
impossibility which he foresaw of this reign ever taking 
place should not ha\'e stopped him, and that in principle 
he was bound to fiilfil his trust. 

When I found your father, who was then seventy-one 
years of age, ill and alone in an hotel, I took the firm 



MARSHAL OUDINOT 437 

resolve to leave him thenceforward as seldom as possible, 
and this great anxiety on my part kept me in Paris and 
brought me back whenever the Marshal returned there 
himself, whatever the effort might cost me. 

My husband was ordered to take the waters at Bourbonne, 
and the season we spent there did something to divert our 
sadness. On his return the Marshal was able to resume 
his habits of activity. A second season was ordered. 

About this time, my eldest son had entered as a sub- 
lieutenant in the i6th Light Horse. Like his father, he 
was first garrisoned at Perpignan, and it was touching, 
when he obtained his first leave, to hear the father question- 
ing the son about the situation of places which the lapse 
of half a century had not effaced from his memory. 

Charles was next sent to Clermont-Ferrand, where a 
serious riot had broken out, against which the regiment 
was obliged to take up arms. After doing his duty and 
firing on a French population, my son was so affected by 
this that he came to beseech his father to allow him to 
change into Africa. 

" In my time," the Marshal said, at first, " one remained 
with one's corps." 

" In your time," replied the young man, " there was 
fighting to be done everywhere. Now, there is no fighting 
except in Africa." 

The Marshal smiled, made no further opposition, and 
Charles entered the Zouaves. Brave lad, what a reputation 
he acquired amongst his comrades ! They nicknamed him 
" Brave de nuit ! " 



438 MEMOIRS OF 

It was after my Vesins children had come to live with 
us that Caroline's marriage was arranged with the excellent 
and loyal Joseph Perron, whose father had achieved a 
glorious career in the Indies. We confidently entrusted 
the fate of our angelic child to this worthy man, who had 
no other fault than that he refused to allow one to recognise 
the qualities with which he was endowed. 

To the advantages of his personal alliance was joined 
that of the alliance of all his sisters with the noblest names 
in France, the Montesquieus, the La Rochefoucaulds, the 
Nansoutys, and so on, families with which my husband and 
I were already on an excellent footing. The marriage was 
performed with every Parisian pomp and circumstance in 
the rooms of the palace of the Legion of Honour, of which 
the Marshal had just been appointed Grand Chancellor, 
and the religious ceremony was celebrated in the chapel of 
the House of Peers by Mgr. de Vesins,^ who had come up 
from Agen to pronounce the nuptial benediction. 

In September 1845, the Marshal agreed to exchange his 
post as Grand Chancellor of the Legion of Honour for that 
of Governor of the Invalides. He had always preferred 
this post to any other as a finish to his career. It was well 
suited to him, I agree. But I, alas, beheld in it the last 
stage. . . . 

Enriched with a fine little bo}-, who was born at the 
Hotel dcs Invalides to the sound of cannon, my Vesins 
children returned to the South. From that moment the 
Marshal's health began to cause me great anxiety ; and 

^ The Abbe ile Wsins liad been r.iiscil t>» ilic See of Agen. — A. T. DE M. 



MARSHAL OUDINOT 



439 



this continued during the whole course of 1845 and 1846. 
I recalled my children from the South. They arrived in 
February 1847. We set out for Jeand'heurs, where we 
were all united. But no more ease or happiness ! 

The summer was spent in an indescribable agony ; a 
fixed idea drove the Marshal towards the Invalides. He 
did not wish to delay, he said, in returning to his post. It 
was there that he received the last succours of religion. . . . 

Here my narrative must cease. God has given me the 
strength to live after my husband's death, but He has 
refused me the will to describe it. 



CHAPTER XI 

Oudinot's funeral— A few words on the Duchesse de Reggio— Conclusion. 

Oudinot's last cares, consecrated to the army to 
which he had belonged for sixty years, were devoted 
to the organizing of a review ; but he had scarcely 
had the leisure to contemplate under arms those 
brave warriors, who had followed him under the tri- 
color into the deepest recesses of Europe, and whose 
hair was now whitening around that of their old 
leader. 

His body, carved with scars, from which his 
country had been able to draw, as from a generous 
reservoir, an extraordinary sum total of services, was 
kept up wholly by a soul of iron, which on one 
battle evening had depicted itself in a typical phrase, 
a real appropriate epigraph for this soldier's life. 
The Emperor congratulated the Marshal upon his 
courage, and added : 

" And )'et there always comes a moment when ihe 
bravest man is afraid for at least once in his life." 

" Sire," replied Oudinot, " I have never had time 
for that." 

Years slowly accomplished what the bullets had 
440 



MEMOIRS OF MARSHAL OUDINOT 441 

been unable to do. On the 1 3th of September, the 
veteran breathed his last, in his eighty-first year, 
fortified with all the rites of religion. 

The joy was refused him of seeing all his family 
united by his bedside to embrace him : he had given 
his four sons to France. The three survivors and 
his grandson^ were at that time in Algeria. They 
came home for the funeral, which took place with 
great state on the 5 th of October in the church of 
Saint-Louis des Invalides, beneath the shadow of 
the enemy's flags which seemed gathered there to 
do honour to his grave. 

Thus, in this year 1847, three of the Marshal's 
children were at the same time facing the enemy. 
One can judge from this, and still better from the 
biographical notes published below, ^ of the energy 
displayed time after time until our own day by the 
members of the Oudinot family, which has sacrificed 
to the country two lives cut down in the flower of 
youth. If the traditions of courage and devotion, 
which are common, for that matter, among the 
descendants of several soldiers of the Revolution 
and the Empire, have been implanted with especial 



^ Charles Oudinot, afterwards Due de Reggio. He married Mile, de Cas- 
telbajac, daughter of General Marquis de Castelbajac and of Mile, de La 
Rochefoucauld, and became the father of the present head of the family. 

2 Vide Appendix III. 
29 



442 MEMOIRS OF 

strenQTth in the breast of the house in which we are 
interested, it is not only the memory of the Marshal 
which has caused them to take such deep and mani- 
fold root. The amiable and graceful companion 
who illumined with her somewhat grave smile the 
second half of Oudinot's life has much to do with 
the budding of these determined characters. To 
men who number among their near ones an eager, 
decided woman, prompt and bold in resolution as 
was the Duchesse de Reggio, timidity is an impos- 
sible thing. She offered a fine example, this young 
bride of twenty, who, upon the receipt of alarming 
news, left the kindness of her family and the com- 
fort of her home to fly to the aid of her wounded 
dear one, and to snatch him from death by facing an 
endless journey through the heart of a country 
ravaged by war, and this in spite of the fatigue, in 
spite of the cold, in spite of the danger of falling into 
the hands of the Cossacks in the desolation of those 
vast snowy steppes. Noble conduct, a proof at 
once of a lovinof and virile heart ! 

The snowflakes gathered under that distant sky 
had left as it were a halo around the duchess's 
head. Later when, at the commencement of the 
Restoration, she entered, brilliant and adorned, into 
some drawing-room or other, cannot )'ou hear the 



MARSHAL OUDINOT 443 

murmur rising behind her footsteps and the words 
whispered of " That is she ! that is the young 
married woman who took part in the retreat from 
Russia ! " and all heads bent forward to see her ? 
She thus enjoyed a little triumph which had been 
bought at such great cost, and she fully felt the 
strange delight which sometimes makes us relish 
the memory of our cruellest trials. 

This lustre apparently contributed, together with 
the duchess's personal charm, the distinction of her 
birth and the renown of the name she bore, to 
attract the attention of the new powers when 
these strove to draw towards themselves the nota- 
bilities of the preceding government. Appointed 
to a lofty post, she performed its delicate functions 
with tact. Her supple mind adroitly unravelled the 
complicated threads of frequently difficult situations; 
she moved among the personages at Court without 
hurting any susceptibilities ; and she was cleverly 
able to preserve an attitude full of respect both 
for the independent tendencies of her husband and 
for the absolute ideas of the Sovereigns to whom 
she had attached herself both from sentiment and 
obligation. 

Then, when political events and a long widow- 
hood gave her leisure, she studiously occupied it 



444 MEMOIRS OF 

in retracing- for her children the different phases 
of her chequered existence. The book into which 
this grew, almost without her knowing it, is written 
in an easy, natural, unpretentious style. It bears 
witness to an open intelligence, a well-balanced 
judgment, together with a kind heart and one full 
of pity for human suffering. In spite of its generally 
restrained tone, emotion m;9kes its way through 
and spreads over the more pathetic passages, such 
as the retreat from Moscow and the death of the 
Due de Berry. 

Surprise will be great at not finding these Sou- 
venirs seasoned with the satirical remarks aofainst 
one's neighbour which form the ordinary relish of 
this class of work. W^as it that the eccentricities, 
the absurdities and the weaknesses of men escaped 
the penetration of the Duchesse de Reggio ; and are 
we to believe that so many people can have passed 
for so long a period before her eyes without her 
raising their mask and discerning the hidden sides 
of their nature ? Surely no ; but at the risk of 
having it believed that her perspicacity was not 
always aroused, she would never consent to reveal 
secrets which did not belong to her, and she ex- 
pressed herself concerning others with great reserve. 
Who knows whether this scrupulous discretion did 



MARSHAL OUDINOT 445 

not constitute her principal merit at Court and the 
secret of her success ? Lovers of scandal, close this 
book ! Its charm is not that of malice. 

This happy disposition for benevolence was re 
peated in the salon which the Duchesse de Reggio 
held at Bar-le-Duc during the latter years of her 
life : an original and unique salon, to which our 
hostesses have not shown themselves very anxious 
to provide a counterpart : there was no scandal 
talked there ! The visitors were none the less 
entertained. The attraction came from the gracious 
and simple lady who offered to all a cordial welcome, 
without distinction of political parties ; who put 
every one at his ease ; who knew so much and 
told so well, without spitefulness ; who had pre- 
served the elegant manners of the eighteenth cen- 
tury ; and the time spent in whose company was 
a lesson in urbanity. 

She thus led a peaceful existence in the religious 
practices which she had cherished all her life, in 
the midst of a district filled with the glory of the 
name of which she was so proud. The poor wor- 
shipped her, and when, in the month of May 1868, 
she, who had been known far around for her charity 
and her sympathy, gently breathed her last, all 
mourned "the o^ood duchess." 



APPENDIX. 



APPENDIX 



SERVICES 



of M. Oudinot, Nicholas Charles, Due de Reggio, born 
25 April 1767, at Bar-sur-Ornain, Department of the 
Meuse, son of Nicolas Oudinot and Marie Anne Adam, 
married, first, 15 September 1789, to Mdlle. Charlotte 
Derlin, and secondly, 19 January 1812, to Mdlle. Marie 
Chai'lotte Eugenie Jidienne de Coucy. 









Length 








of actual 


Location of services and in what 


Rank. 


Date of N^omination. 


service. 


capacity employed. 






w* 










> 


J3 

C 


II 





Medoc Regiment (infantry) 


Private 


2 Tune 1784 to 


2 






May 1787 1 








3rd Battalion of the Meuse 


2nd Lieut. -Colonel 


6 September 1791 


2 


2 


1 


4th Demi-Brigade (formerly 


Colonel, with field 


5 November 1793 




7 


9 


Regiment de Picardie) 


rank of Brigadier 










Nominated by the Representa- 


General of Brigade 


14 June 1794 


I 




1 


tives attached to the Armies 












of the Rhine and Moselle 












The appointment officially 


>> 


13 June 1795 


3 


10 




ratified 












Employed with the Army of 


General of Division 


12 April 1799 




7 


26 


the Danube 












With the Army of Italy 


>) 


8 December 1799 


I 


7 


16 


Inspector-General of Infantry 


>) 


24 July 1 801 




4 


24 


Inspector-General of Cavalry 




18 December 1801 


I 


8 


12 


In command of 1st Division at 


)) 


30 August 1803 


I 


5 


5 


the Camp of Bruges 












Commander-in-Chief of the 


M 


5 February 1805 


2 


10 




Grenadiers of the Reserve 












Entrusted with the chief com- 


>» 


December 1S07 


I 


3 




mand at Danzig 













^ A break occurs here of four years and four months. 



450 



MEMOIRS OF 







Length 
of actual 
service. 


Location of services and in what 


Rank. 


Tl . r HT 


iJate 01 IS ominatior. 


capacity employed. 




.!« . 






Years 
1 Month 
1 Days. 


Commander-in-Chief of the 


General of Division. 


March 1S09 4 7 


2nd Corps of the Army of 






Germany 








Marshal of the Empire 


12 July 1809 II 23 


Commander-in-Chief of the 


>> 


5 January 1810 I 6 4 


Army of the North (Hol- 






land) 






Commander-in-Chief of the 


<> 


9 January 1812 2 


2nd Corps of Observation 






on the Elbe 






Commander - in - Chief of the 


)* 


March 1S12 i 221 


2nd Corps of the Grande 






Armee 






Commander-in-Chief of the 


)> 


31 May 1813 8 8 


I2th Corps of the Grande 






Armee 






Commander-in-Chief of the 


»> 


8 Februar>- 18 14 3 12 


7th Corps of the Grande 






Armee 






Commander-in-Chief of the 


Marshal of France 


20 May 1S14 I I 


Royal Corps of the Grena- 






dier and Chasseurs of 






France (formerly the Im- 






perial Guard) 






Governor of the 3rd Military 


>» 


21 June 1S14 1217 


Division 






Major-CJeneral of the Royal 


,, 


8 September 181 5 l 


Guard 






Commander-in-Chief of the 


) > 


October 181 5 32 


National Guard of the De- 






partment of the Seine 






Reappointed Governor of 3rd 


>» 


10 January 1S16 li 13 


Military Division 




1 


Inspector-General of the Na- 


>> 


23 December 1S16 6 119 


tional Guard of the De- 






partment of the Seine 






Commander-in-Chief of the 


>> 


12 February 1823 7 6 


1st Corps of the Army o( 






the Pyrenees 






Out of employment because of 


u 


II August 1830 896 


disband ment of Royal Guard 






Grand Chancellor of the 


>l 


17 May 1839 354 


Legion of Honour 






Governor of the Hotel des 


»» 


21 October 1842 4 1023 


Invalides 






Died in Paris 


II 


13 September 1847 

5811 12 



MARSHAL OUDINOT 451 

Extracts from various despatches of the 
Grande Armde 

Campaign of Austerlitz. 

Combat of Wertingen, "^rd Despatch, i8 Vendimiaire Year XIV {\o October 
1805). — The Emperor referring to the Grenadiers of Oadinot's division : " It is 
impossible to see a finer body of men, more anxious to measure themselves 
with the enemy, more full of honour and of that military ardour which promises 
the greatest results." 

2yd Despatch, 23 Brumaire Year XIV (14 November 1805). — The 
Emperor also expresses his satisfaction with the Grenadiers of Oudinot, who, 
during the fight at Austerlitz, repulsed from strong and difficult ground the 
Russo- Austrian troops, with a loss of 1500 prisoners, including 600 Russians. 

TjOth Bulletin, Battle of Austerlitz, 2 December 1805. — The Emperor and 

his entire staff formed the reserve with the ten battahons of the Guard and 

General Oudinot's ten Grenadier battalions. With this reserve the Emperor 

was prepared to rush wherever there was need ; one may call such a reserve 

worth an army. 

Campaign of Friedland. 

24^^ Despatch, 21 February 1807. — At Ostrolenka, the dauntless General 
Oudinot commanded the left on two lines ; at the head of his cavalry he 
charged successfully home, and cut to bits the enemy's rear-guard. 

30M Despatch, 16 May 1807. — From the crumbling ramparts of Dantzig the 
enemy had watched the whole affair. With consternation he saw all hope of 
rescue fade away. General Oudinot with his own hand slew three Russians. 

79^/5 Despatch, 17 Jtine 1807, Battle of Friedlattd. — Friedland was stormed 
and its streets strewn with corpses. The centre at this moment joined action : 
the attempt on the extreme right of the French army having failed, the enemy 
essayed such another effort towards the centre. It was received, as might 
have been expected, by the brave divisions of Oudinot and Verdier. 

Campaign of Wagram. 

■^Qth Despatch, 30 Jtily 1809, Battle of Wagram. — The village of Wagram 
was taken on the 6th, between ten and eleven in the forenoon, and the glory 
belongs entirely to Marshal Oudinot and his Corps. 



H52 



MEMOIRS OF 



c,lh Despatch, 4 Afay 1S09.— On the ist May, General OucUnot made 
1500 prisoners during the action at Ried. 

10th Despatch, 23 Afay 1809. — The Emperor has given the command of the 
2nd Corps to the Comte Oudinot, a general tried in a hundred combats, 
wherein he shewed that his daring equalled his know ledge. 

Campaign of Russia. 

24 November 1812, the Due de Reggio encountered Lambert's 
Division at four leagues from Borisow, attacked it, beat it, made 2000 
prisoners, took six guns, 5°° baggage-waggons of the army of Volhynie, 
and forced the enemy back upon the right of the Beresina. 



Armies of the Moselle, the Rhine, England, and Italy. 



DETAILS OF THE CAMPAIGNS 

1792 
1793 

Year II. 
„ III. 
„ IV. 
„ V. 
VI. 
„ VII. 
„ VIII. 

„ IX.; 

„ XII.) ^ ^ 

vin Camp at Bruges. 

,, XIII. j 

Year XIV. ^ 

1806 ! _ , . 
\ Grande Ar 

1S07 



1S08 
1S09 
iSio 
I Si 2 
iSi.^ 
1S14 
1S23 



Germany. 

Army of the Norlh (Holland). 

■Grande Arnide. 

Army of the ryrenccs. 



MARSHAL OUDINOT 453 

WOUNDS AND DEEDS OF GALLANTRY 

Received a shot in the head in the affair at Hagenau, Frimaire Year II. 

Had a leg broken at Treves, where he was in command, Thermidor Year 
II (August 1794). 

Wounded by five sabre strokes in a night attack at Neckerau, Yendeiniaire 
Year III (October 1795). 

Wounded by a ball in the thigh, three sabre strokes on the arms and one on 
the neck, at the affair of Neuborg, Fructidor Year IV (1796). 

Wounded by a ball in the breast at the affair of Wurenlos, at the left of the 
intrenched camp at Zurich, 16 Prairial Year VII (1799). 

Wounded by a ball in the shoulder-blade at the affair of Schwitz, 27 
Thermidor Year VII (14 August 1799). 

Sword of honour and cannon given by Bonaparte, First Consul, after the 
Battle of Monzembemo, in December 1800 (the cannon had been taken from 
the Austrians by General Oudinot). 

Had a ball through his thigh at the Battle of HoUabriinn, 16 November 
1805. 

Wounded by a ball in the left arm at the Battle of Essling in 1809, 

Wounded in the head at the Battle of Wagram in 1809. 

Wounded by grape-shot during the fight at Polotsk, 17 August 18 12. 

Wounded by a ball in the side at the Beresina, November 1812. 

Wounded by a ball in the breast at the combat of Arcis-sur-Aube, 21 
March 1814. 



TITLES AND DIGNITIES 

Member of the Corps Legislatif, representing the Department of the Meuse, 

Frimaire, Year XII (1804). 

Burgess of Neuchatel, 1806. 

Count of the Empire, 25 July i8o8. 

Due de Reggio, 15 August 1809. 

Minister of State and Peer of France, I May 1S14. 



454 MEMOIRS OF MARSHAL OUDINOT 

FRENCH DECORATIONS 

Knight of the Legion of Honour, ii December 1S03. 

Grand Officer, 14 June 1S04. 

Grand Cross, 6 March 1805. 

Knight of St. Louis, i June 1814. 

Commander, 24 September 1814. 

Grand Cross, 3 May 1816. 

Knight of the Order of the Holy Ghost, 1S20. 

FOREIGN DECORATIONS' 

Italy. — Knight of the Order of the Iron Crown, 1805. 

Saxony. — Commander of the Military Order of St Henry. 

Bavaria. — Grand Cross of the Military Order of Max-Joseph, 25 June 1S13. 

Netherlands.— Grand Cross of the Military Order of William, May 1815. 

Prussia.— Grand Cross of the Orders of the Red Eagle and the Black 

Eagle, 181 7. 
Russia.— Knight of the First Class, Grand Cross of the Order of Saint 

Vladimir, 25 February 1824. 
Spain. — Grand Cordon of the Spanish Order of Charles HI., 27 May 1824. 



II 

LETTERS OF CONDOLENCE 

FROM THE PRESIDENT OF THE COUNCIL AND FROM 
REIGNING SOVEREIGNS 

Oudinot's memory was honoured not only by 
France, but also by the Sovereigns of the foreign 
nations which he had administered or combated. 
These either rendered homage to an unexpected 
benefactor, or bowed respectfully, as in the days 
of chivalry, before the mortal remains of a loyal 
adversary. The family of the deceased received a 
large number of letters of condolence. 

LETTER FROM M. GUIZOT, 

president of the council of ministers. 

Madame la marechale, 

I must express to you my regret at not having 
been able to be present this morning at your illustrious 
husband's funeral. 

I was absolutely obliged to go to Saint-Cloud to wait 
upon the . King, who arrived yesterday, I should have 
taken a sad pleasure in showing honour to the memory 
of a man of such glorious and upright character; and I 
should be happy if I could find some occasion of proving 



456 MEMOIRS OF 

to you, madame la marechale, the respect with which I 
have the honour to be 

Your very humble and obedient servant, 

{Sig7ied) GUIZOT. 

Tuesday, 5 October 1S47. 

The followincT letters are addressed to General 
Victor Oudinot : 

LETTER FROM CHARLES ALBERT 
KING OF SARDINIA 

Monsieur le marquis. 

You did justice to my feelings when you thought 
that I should take a very sympathetic interest in the sad 
loss of Marshal the Due de Reggio. It would be impos- 
sible for me to bear him more affection, more gratitude, or 
to admire him more than I did, I join our profound 
regrets to yours, monsieur le general, and I heartily wish 
that circumstances may bring you to Turin and enable me 
to assure you better than in writing of all my friendship. 
{Signed) CHARLES ALBERT. 

Turin, 10 October 1847. 

LETTER FROM WILLIAM KING OF 
THE NETHERLANDS 

Monsieur le marquis, 

I have received the letter, dated 28 September last, 
in which you inform me of the death of your noble and 
honoured father, Marshal Oudinot, Due dc Reggio. 

In thanking you for this communication I am pleased to 



MARSHAL OUDINOT 457 

do justice to the military talents and the personal valour of 
the deceased, and to join my voice to the chorus which 
proclaims his noble qualities. I hope that this appreciation 
will contribute to calm the regrets which this death occasions 
you, and that it will give you the assurance of the dis- 
tinguished sentiments with which I am, monsieur le 

marquis, 

Your affectionate 

{Signed) WILLIAM. 

The Hague, 18 October 1847, 

LETTER FROM LOUIS KING OF BAVARIA 

Monsieur le marquis, Lieutenant-General Oudinot, 

I have received the letter which you were so good as 
to write to me on the 28th of September to inform me of 
the decease of Marshal the Due de Reggio, your father. 
You will have no doubt, monsieur le general, of the feelings 
with which I share the loss which you have just experi- 
enced. This loss meets with no less sympathy in the 
Bavarian Army, which has so often fought under the 
Marshal's orders ; and I have always preserved the recol- 
lection of the feelings of personal esteem which the late 
King my father had devoted to him, and of which he had 
given him proofs. 

I was therefore touched by the attention of your letter, 
which gives me at the same time the opportunity of assur- 
ing you, monsieur le marquis, of the sentiments of esteem 

with which I am 

Your affectionate 

{Signed) LOUIS. 

Munich, 18 October 1847. 
30 



458 MEMOIRS OF 

LETTER FROM FREDERIC WILLIAM KING 
OF PRUSSIA 

Monsieur le dug, 

I have always borne a sincere attachment for Marshal 
the Due de Reggio, your father ; and the news of his 
death, which you announced to me in your letter of the 
28th of last month, afflicted me sadly. The interest which 
I took in all that concerns him does not cease with his 
death, but passes to his family. I sympathize deeply with 
you, monsieur, in the loss you have sustained. Your late 
father succeeded in winning the general esteem in this 
country under most critical circumstances, and in a time of 
unexampled irritation against the Sovereign whom he then 
served. This, in my opinion, is one of his finest titles to 
glory, and one which does most honour to his memory. 
The Marshal's conduct at Berlin, as you know, was never 
forgotten by the late King my father, and I have inherited 
his sentiments. Preserving these memories in my heart, I 
beg you to accept my sincere regrets, together with the 
renewed assurance of my perfect esteem and of my good 
will. With which I pray God, monsieur le due, to have 
you in His holy and worthy keeping. 
Your affectionate 
{Sig-iicd) FREDERIC WILLIAM. 

Sans-Souci, 30 October 1847. 

LETTER FROM NICHOLAS CZAR OF RUSSIA 
I have received, General, the letter which you addressed 
to me to inform me of the death of the venerable Marshal 



MARSHAL OUDINOT 459 

Oudinot, your father. The loss of a man whose name 
stood out among the first in an epoch so fertile in great 
captains must needs be strongly felt by all those who 
render homage to talent and to military glory. This is the 
impression which, on this account, it was bound to produce 
on me. The Marshal's fine actions and loyal character had 
earned for him, at the time, the esteem and affection of my 
late brother, the Emperor Alexander ; and I know that 
the marks of honour which he received from him had 
always left a grateful remembrance in his heart. This is 
for me a reason the more to regret him and to sympathize 
with the affliction which his death causes to his country 
and his family. I therefore greatly appreciate your atten- 
tion in informing me of this event. I regard it as a proof 
that you consider the sentiments which your father bore to 
my brother and myself to form part of your inheritance. 
This persuasion causes me doubly to regret not having 
been able some time ago, as I hoped, to make your personal 
acquaintance ; and I am pleased to take this opportunity 
of telling you so, while assuring you here of my sincere 
esteem. 

{Signed) NICHOLAS. 

St Petersburg, i8 October 1847. 



Ill 

THE SOLDIERS 

IN THE OUDINOT FAMILY. 

The military tradition inaugurated by Oudinot 
was preserved in his family ; his descendants have 
formed a numerous sequence of officers. 

The reader has seen above, in the Souvenirs 
of the Duchesse de Reggio, details on Victor and 
Auguste Oudinot, the Marshal's two sons by his 
first wife. 

Victor Oudinot (1791 t 1863) took part in the 
campaigns of Wagram, Spain, Portugal, Russia, 
Leipzig, France, Algeria (1835) — it was in this 
year that he obtained the rank of lieutenant-general 
— and finally of Italy (1849), where he commanded 
in chief He made a very energetic protest against 
the cotLp d' Etat of the 2 Decembre. 

After the Roman expedition. General Victor 

Oudinot received from the Comte de Chambord 

the following letter : 
4^0 



MARSHAL OUDINOT 461 

LETTER FROM THE COMTE DE CHAMBORD 

To THE Due DE REGGIO. 

Cousin,! 

As a Frenchman, as the eldest son of the Church, I 
could not fail to show my appreciation of the great feat of 
arms which you have just accomplished. Rome restored 
to its legitimate Sovereign, the City of the Apostles brought 
back to its obedience to him who has inherited their divine 
mission : these are illustrious recollections which will always 
remain attached to French arms. I experienced a keen 
feeling of joy on beholding our soldiers add this fresh glory 
to so many other glories which are the patrimony of us all ; 
I am no less happy to think that it is you who have fulfilled 
this fair and lofty mission, that it is to you that the honour 
belongs and the gratitude is due. Your sword has shown 
itself worthy of your noble father, the warrior of Zurich, 
Friedland and Wagram. Although the gates of my country 
are still closed to me, and my position deprives me of the 
happiness of distributing justly acquired national rewards 
to valour and to services rendered, I nevertheless feel the 
need of giving you here the proof of my personal satisfac- 
tion, which I know that you value, 

I renew, cousin, the assurance of all my esteem and of 
my sincere and constant affection. 

{Signed) HENRY. 

15 September 1849. 
^ All French dukes are addressed by the King as cousin. — A. T. DE M. 



462 MEMOIRS OF 

It will be remembered that Augusta Oudinot, the 
Marshal's second son, died a glorious death in 
Algeria, at the battle of la Macta (1835). 

Two daughters of the Marshal's first marriage 
married, one General Comte Pajol, the other General 
Comte de Lorencez, who both served during the wars 
of the Republic and the Empire. 

Pajol (177 2 t i844),oneofthe most brilliant cavalry 
officers of his time, distinguished himself particularly 
at Hohenlinden, at Eckmiihl, in Russia, at Leipzig, 
at Montereau, and during the Waterloo campaign. 
Lorencez (i'j'j2-\ i'62y) took part in the Battle of 
Wagram and in the Peninsula, and was so grievously 
wounded at Bautzen that he was never afterwards 
able to mount his horse. 

By his marriage with Eugenie de Coucy, the Mar- 
shal had two sons, Colonel Charles Oudinot (10 
March iSigf 10 December 1858), who has already 
been mentioned, and General Henry Oudinot (3 
February 1822 f 28 July 1891), who took a brilliant 
part in the principal campaigns of our time. Both 
of them distinguished themselves in 1849 under the 
orders of their elder brother, General Oudinot, Due 
de Reggio, commander-in-chief of the e.xpedltlon 
which resulted in the Restoration of the Holy See. 

The military spirit perpetuated Itself down to 



MARSHAL OUDINOT 463 

Marshal Oudlnot's grandchildren. Two of General 
Pajol's sons were, the first, Charles Pajol (7 August 
i8i2f 2 April 1 891), a general of division; the 
second, Eugene Pajol (13 November 1817 f 18 
April 1885), a general of brigade. 

General de Lorencez left a son, Charles Ferdinand 
(23 May 1814 1 23 April 1892), who became a 
general of division. It was he who, in 1862, ventured 
intrepidly with a handful of men into the heart of 
Mexico and directed the first attack against Puebla. 

Lieutenant Antoine de Levezou de Vesins, grand- 
son of Marshal Oudinot and Eugenie de Coucy, was 
killed at the Battle of Gravelotte on the 16th of 
August 1870. Although seriously wounded, he 
refused to leave the battlefield, and wished to 
spend his last strength in fighting for his country. 
A second wound struck him mortally ; he then had 
himself turned so as to expire with his face to the 
enemy. He was hardly twenty-five years of age. 



INDEX OF PERSONS 

OTHER THAN THE DUG AND DUCHESSE DE REGGIO. 



INDEX OF PERSONS 

other than the Due and Duchesse de Reggio. 



Abd-el-Kader (1807-1883), 433. 
Abramowietz, Count, 166, 167. 
Abramowietz, Countess, 166, 190. 
Adam, i. 
Adelaide, Madame, d'Orleans (1777- 

1847), 279, 333. 
d'Albufera, Duchesse, 282, 339. 
Alexander I., Czar of All the Russias 

(1777-1825), 74, 75, 78, 80, 88, 

271, 3i3> 458- ' 

d'AUegrin, Comte, 56. 
Ambert, General, 12. 
d'Angouleme, Louis Antoine Due 

(1775-1844), 276, 305, 344, 357, 

363, 370, 377, 382, 385, 408, 419, 

423- 
d'Angouleme, Marie Theresa Duchesse 

(177S-1852), 274, 275, 318, 343, 

357, 370, 379, 408- 
Apponyi, Count, 380. 
Apponyi, Countess, 381. ( 
d'Argout, Comtesse, 285. 
Audenarde, General, 398. 
Auersberg, Count, 36. 
Augereau, Marechale {see Castiglione, 

Duchesse de). 
Augereau, Marshal Pierre Fran9ois 

Charles, Due de Castiglione (1757- 

1816), 145. 
d'Avaray, Antoine Louis Francois 

Duc(i759-i8ii), 376. 



B 



Bagration, General Prince Peter 

(1765-1812), 37, 135. 
Barclay de Tolly, General Michael 

(1755-1818), 135. 
Barrot, Camille Hyacinthe Odilon 

(1791-1873), 422. 



Bassano, Hugues Bernard Comte 
Maret, Due de (1763- 1839), 159, 
160, 161, 163, 164, 165, 166, 167, 
172, 179, 185. 

Bassano, Duchesse de, 216, 217. 

Bastard, Comte de, 327. 

Baudecour, 194. 

Beaufort, Mme. de, 285. 

Beauharnais, Prince Eugene de, Duke 
of Leuchtenberg, Prince of Eich- 
stadt (1781-1824), 129. 

Berry, Charles Ferdinand Due de 
(1778-1820), 273, 280, 282, 286, 
288, 294, 299, 305, 319, 320, 328, 
330, 332, 336, 337, 338, 339, 340, 
341, 347, 351. 

Berry, Caroline Duchesse de (1798- 
1870), 320, 322, 324, 326, 329, 332, 
334, 335, 337, 339, 34i, 347, 352, 
354, 358, 360, 361, 365, 368, 370, 
372, 373, 375, 379, 380, 384, 386, 
392, 393, 395, 396, 397, 398, 399, 
404, 405, 406, 407, 408, 409, 415, 
421, 424, 425, 427, 428, 430, 431, 
432. 

Belliard, General Auguste Daniel 
Comte (1769- 1 832), 340. 

Berthier, Marechale {see Neuchatel, 
Princesse de). 

Berthier, Marshal Alexandre, Prince 
de Wagram, Prince of Neuchatel 
(1753-1815), 40, 90, 123, 137, 171. 

Bertrand, General Henry Gratien 
Comte (1773- 1844), 227, 229, 230, 
233, 306. 

Bethisy, Marquise de, 321, 347, 395. 

Blacas d'Aulps, Pierre Louis Casimir 
Due de (1770- 1 839), 404. 

Blanchfeton, Dr, 349. 

Blucher, Field - Marshal Gebhard 
Lebrecht, Prince Wahlstadt 
(1742-1819), 235, 313. 

Bodson, Colonel, 203. 

467 



468 



INDEX 



Bonaparte, (Prince Louis Napoleon 

(1S08-1S73), 435. 
Bordeaux, Henri Charles Dieudonne 

Due de (1820-18S3), 355, 358, 409, 

419, 423, 424, 436, 460. 
Borghese, Marie Pauline Princesse, 

Duchesse de Guastalla (1780-1825), 

65- 
Bortsell, General, 231. 
Boudet, General Jean Comte (1769- 

1S09), 27. 
Boufflers, Stanilas Chevalier de (1737- 

1815), 224. 
Bougon, Dr, 349. 
Bouille, Comtesse Fran9ois de, 321, 

322, 325, 399, 425. 
Bourcet, Comte de, 74, 1S6, 202, 211, 

246, 249, 309, 417, 418, 420. 
Bourbon, Louis Joseph Due de. 

Prince de Conde (1756-1830), 279. 
Bourbon, Louise Therese Duchesse 

de (1750-1S22), 279. 
Bourgeois, Mnie., 359. 
Bourmont, General Victor Comte de 

Ghaisnesde (1773-1846), 407. 
Brandon du Thil, 91. 
Brandon du Thil, Alme., 91. 
Brune, Marshal Guillaume Marie 

Anne (1763-1815), 26. 
Bruno, Dom, 399, 400. 
Buftaut, IMlles., 222. 
Bukaufen, General, 34. 



Cambier, 95. 

Campana, General, 44. 
Canouville, Comte de, 217. 
Capiomont, Dr, 181, 186, 190, 191, 

211. 
Carlota, Infanta, 395, 396, 397, 398. 
Caroline ( Mural), Queen of Naples, 91. 
Cars, Aniedee Francois de I'erisse, 

Due de (1760-1838), 317, 318. 
Caslelbajac, General Maiie Barth^lemy 

Marquis de, 2S9, 441. 
Castelbajac, Marquise de, ne'e La 

Rochefoucauld, 441. 
Castiglione, Duchesse de, 146, 216. 
Caunan, Chevalier, Baron de, 365, 

391,416. 
Caunan, Baronne de, uc'e Oudinot, 95, 

339. 365- „ , 

Chambord, Comle de {see Bordeaux, 

Due de). 
Champagny, Comic de, 407. 



Champion, Dr, 99, 373. 

Charette, Mme. , 425. 

Charles, Archduke, of Austria, 81,83, 

85. 
Charles X., King of France and 
Navarre (1757-1836), 267, 268, 269, 
271, 305. 334, 356, 367, 370, 37 1 > 
375, 376, 377, 3S2, 3S5. 386, 390, 

393. 394, 409, 410, 4", 413. 4i9. 
423, 427, 436. 

Charles XIV. (Bernadotte), King of 

Sweden (1764-1844), 228, 229, 231, 

232. 
Charles Albert King of Sardmia 

(1789-1849), 456. 
Chartres, Ferdinand (Due d'Orleans), 

Due de (18 1 0-1842), 404. 
Chasseloup-Laubat, General Fran9ois, 

Marquis de (1754-1S33), 203. 
Chazet, Alissan rle, 372. 
Chevallot, Colonel, III. 
Choiseul, Comte Cesar de, 347. 
Choiseul, Claude Antoine Gabriel 

Due de (1760-1838), 317, 318. 
Christina, Queen of Spain (1806-1878), 

394, 405- 
Clermont-Lodeve, Comle de, 347. 
Cochelet, Mile., 257. 

Coigny, Marshal Marie Fran9ols 
Henri Due de (1737-1821), 343, 

357- 
Conde, Louis Joseph Prince de 

(1736-181S), 21, 276, 332. 
Conslantine Paulovitch, Grand-Duke, 

of Russia (1779-1831), 76, 77, 79, 

80. 
Conyngham, Messrs. de, 53. 
Corbieres, Jacques Joseph Guillaume 

Pierre Comte de (1767-1853), 378, 

389- „ . 

Corbineau, General Jean Baplisle 

Juvenal Comte (1776-1848), 170. 
Cosse-Brissac, Comte de, 334, 376, 

414,425. 
Coucy, Senior, 52, 56. 
Coucy, 56, 61, 98, 140, 146, 160, 163, 

172, 186, 210, 243, 289. 
Coucy, Abbe de, 58, 60. 
Coucy, Canoness de, 52, 61, 97, 106. 
Coucy, Captain de, 52, 53, 54, 57. 
Coucy, Enguerrand de, 61, 131, 214, 

222. 
Coucy, Gustave de, 57, 99, 365. 
Coucy, Mme. de, 52. 
Coucy, Mme. dc, m'e d'AUcgrin, 56, 

61, 62, 109, 141, 2S5, 362. 



INDEX 



469 



Coucy, Madame de, izt>e La Eigne, 

365- 393- 
Coucy, Madame de, n^e Mer9uay, 53, 

54, 61, 97, 103, 131, 140, 240, 267, 

285, 311, 362. 
Coucy, Mile, de, 57, 60. 
Coucy, Maximilien de, 54. 
Coucy, Miles, de, 52. 
Courchamp, Comte de, 434. 
Curial, General Philibert Jean Bap- 

tiste Francois Joseph Comte (1774- 

1829), 376. 



D 



Dabray, Comte, 275. 

Damas, Due de, 376, 381. 

Damas, Duchesse de, 375. 

Davout, Marechale {see d'Eckmlihl, 

Princesse). 
Davout, Marshal Louis Nicholas, 

Prince d'Eckmlihl, Due d'Auer- 

stadt (1770-1823), 28, 50, 81, 85, 

86, 122, 127, 300, 304. 
Decazes, Duchesse de, 322. 
Delamarre, AchilJe, 193, 20I, 202. 
Delmas, General Antoine Guillaume 

(1768-1813), 15. 
Deneux, Dr, 354, 358. 
Desgenette, Dr, 177. 
Dessaix, General Joseph Marie (1764- 

1825), 64. 
Dombrowsky, General Henry John 

(1755-1818), 170. 
Dreux-Breze, Henri Evrard Marquis 

de, 321. 
Drott, Baron, 120. 
Dubois, Dr, 215. 
Dupas, General, 34, 48. 
Dupuytren, Guillaume Baron (1777- 

1^35). 341, 349, 391- 
Duras, Due de, 369. 
Duras, Duchesse de, 322. 
Duruth, General, 300. 
Duverger, General, 122. 



E 



Eble, General Jean Baptiste Comte 

(1758-1812), 171. 
d'Eckmlihl, Princesse, 65, 123. 
d'Enghien, Louis Henri Antoine de 

Bourbon, Due (1772-1804), 63. 
d'Essling, Princesse, 265. 



d'Estaings, General Charles Hector 

Comte (1720-1794), 64. 
Eugene, Prince, of Wurtemberg, 234. 



Farine, General, 206. 

Feltre, Henri Jacques Guillaume 

Clarke, Comte de Hunebourg, 

Due de (1765-1818), 145. 
Ferdinand, Archduke, of Austria 

(1754-1806), 33, 86. 
Ferdinand H., King of the Two 

Sicilies (1810-1859), 433. 
Ferdinand VH., King of Spain (17S4- 

1833), 363. 406. 
Feutrier, Fran9ois Jean Hyacinthe, 

Bishop of Beauvais (1785- 1830), 

365- 
Fitz-James, Edouard Due de (1776- 

1838), 3i5> 319, 337, 384- 
Flahaut, Colonel de, 88. 
Flamarens, Comte de, 121. 
Fouche, Joseph, Due d'Otrante (i754- 

1820), 264. 
Fournier d'Albe, General, 146. 
Francis I., Emperor of Austria (1768- 

1835), 25, 254. 
Francis L, King of the Two Sicilies 

(1751-1825), 330, 394, 395, 405, 

406, 407, 408, 409, 410. 
Francis de Paula, Infant, 395, 396. 
Frederic I., King of Wurtemberg 

(1754-1816), 76, 80. 
Frederic William HI., King of 

Prussia (1770-1840), 124, 209. 
Frederic William IV., King of 

Prussia (1795-1861), 458. 



GoNTAUT, Duchesse de, 336, 338, 

340, 343, 359- 
Gontaut-Biron, Vicomtesse de, 321, 

322, 325- 
Gourgues, Comtesse de, 321. 
Gouvion-Saint-Cyr, Marshal Laurent 

(1764-1830), 138, 139, 160, 163, 

169, 185. 
Gouy, III, 115, 131, 144. 211,283, 

291, 292, 392. 
Gouy, Mme , 292, 294. 
Greffulhe, Comtesse, 337. 
Gueriviere, Vicomte de, 64, 98, loO, 

loi, 131, 263, 393. 



470 



INDEX 



Gucriviere, Vicomtesse tie, wt't^Coucy, 

64, 69, 88, 96, 100, IC7, III, 131, 

222, 263. 
Guizot, Fran9ois Pierre Guillaume 

(1787-1S74), 455. 
Giiyot, General Claude Etienne 

Comte (1768-1837), 397. 



H 



Hainguerlot, James Tom Baron, 

393. 
Hainguerlot, Baronne, nde Oudinot, 

95, 131, 225, 278. 
d'Hautefort, Comtesse, 321. 
d'Havre-de-Croy, Auguste Philippe 

Louis Emmanuel Due (1765-1822), 

325, 326, 327. 
Hebert, Jacques Rene (1755-1794)5 2. 
Henry V., King of France and 

Navarre (see Bordeaux, Due de). 
Iloche, General Lazare (176S-1797), 

28. 
Ilogendorp, General Dirk Co.mt van 

(1761-1830), 149, 152. 
Hohenlohe, Princess, 149, 15 1. 
Hortense (Bonaparte), Queen of Hol- 
land (1783-1837), 221, 255, 435. 
Hotze, General, 20. 



Isabella Queen of the Two Sicilies 
(17S9-1S4S), 405, 407, 410. 



Jacqueminot, Jean Ignace, Comte 
de Ham (17S8-1S13), 143. 

Jacqueminot, tleneral Jean Francois 
Vicomte, 113, 153, 186, 202, 2*08, 
210, 236, 272, 287, 306, 422. 

Jean-Marie, Brother, 399, 403. 

Jerome (15onaparlc), King of West- 
phalia (1784-1860), 121. 

Joseph (Bonaparte), King of Spain 
(176S-1S44), 220, 255, 256, 257. 

Josephine, Empress of the French 
(1763-1S14), 68, 220, 270. 

Juigiie, Comtesse Victor de, 258. 

Julia (Bonaparte), (^ueeu of Spain, 
220. 

Jourdan, Marshal Jean ]3aptiste 
Comte de (17O2 1S33), 17. 



K 



Kellermann, Marshal Fran9ois 
Christopher, Due de Valmy (1735- 
1820), 211. 

Kergorlay, Gabriel Louis Marie 
Comte de (1766-1830), 263, 265. 

Korsakoff, 20. 



La Bedoyere, General Charles 

Angelique Franfois Huchet, Comte 

de (1786-1815), 312. 
La Croix, General Frangois Joseph 

Pamphile, Vicomte de (1774-1842), 

340. 
La Fayette, General Gilbert Motier, 

Marquis de (1757-1834), 394. 
La Ferronnays, Pierre Louis Auguste 

Ferion, Comte de (1777-1S42), 319, 

392. 
La Ferronnays, Comtesse de, 320, 

322, 324, 327, 330. 
Lambertye, Comtesse de, 323. 
Landry-Gillon, I\Ime., I13. 
Lannes, Marechale [see Montebello, 

Duchesse de). 
Lannes, Marshal Jean, Due de Monte- 
bello (1769-1809), 33, 35, 36, 46, 

47,. 83, 84. 
La Riboisiere, General Jean Ambroise 

Baston, Comte de (1759-1812), 126. 
Latil, Cardinal Jean Baptiste Marie 

Anne Antoine Due de. Archbishop 

of Rheinis (1761-1S39), 342. 
Latour, General, 15. 
Lauristan, Comlesse de, 321. 
La Valette, Marie Chamans, Comte 

de (1769-1S30), 316. 
Leclerc, Louis Comte, 65, 223. 
Leclerc, General Victor Emmanuel 

(1772-1S02), 65. 
Lefebvre, Marshal Francois Joseph, 

Due de Dantzig ( 1 755-1820), 44. 
Legrand, General, 136. 
Leon, Prince de, 2S6. 
Le Tellier, 113, 123, 172, 177, 180, 

187, 191, 195. 
Levis, Pierre Marc Gaston Due de 

(1755-1830), 321, 322, 325.. 338. 
Loison, General 1-ouis Henri {'t)mte 

(1771-1S16), 148, 189, 190, 302. 
Lorencez, Comtesse de, ni'c Oudinot, 

94, 99, III, 114, 116, 122, 128, 129, 

130, 142, 222, 226, 236, 462. 



INDEX 



47 > 



Lorencez, General Comte de (1772- 
1827), 95, III, 114, 116, 130, 142, 
160, 179, 186, 194, 207, 212, 222, 
225, 236, 273, 308, 462. 

Lorencez, General Charles Ferdinand 
(1814-1892), 463. 

Lorencez, Mile. Victorine de, 212, 
222. 

Louis, Baron (1755-1837), 121. 

Louis, Archduke, of Austria, 81. 

Louis (Bonaparte), King of Holland 
(1778-1846), 92, 95. _ 

Louis L, King of Bavaria (1786- 1868), 

457- 
Louis XVIII. , King of France and 

Navarre (1755-1824), 262, 267, 273, 

274. 275. 281, 299, 305, 310, 313, 

314, 316, 318, 320, 328, 329, 330, 

335> 344, 345> 357, 361, 365, 366, 

368, 369, 378. 
Louis XIX., King of France and 

Navarre (see Angouleme, Due de). 
Louis-Philippe, King of the French 

(1773-1850), 279, 404, 410,^411, 

415, 419, 423, 436, 455. 
Louisa Amelia Queen of Prussia 

(1776-1810), 126. 
Louise Duchess of Parma (1819- 

1864), 336, 343. 
Louise Queen of the Belgians (1812- 

1850), 404. 
Louvel, Louis Pierre (1783-1820), 

338, 347, 350, 354- 
Louvrigny, Mile, de, 58, 6^. 
Lucchesi-Palli, Hector Count di, 432. 

M 

Macdonald, Marshal litienne 
Jacques Joseph Alexandre, Due de 
Tarente (1765-1840), 86, 133, 227, 
249, 316. 

Mack, General Charles Baron (1756- 
1828), 32, 33. 

Madame Mere (1750- 1836), 220. 

Magnac, Colonel, 45. 

Maille, Due de, 356, 357. 

Mailly d'Haucourt, Marshal Jean 
Auguste Comte de (1708- 1794), 4. 

Maison, Marshal Nicolas Joseph Mar- 
quis (1 771-1840), 207, 422. 

Mallet, 165, 166. 

Marescot, Comtesse de, 68. 

Marie Amelie Queen of the French 
(1782-1866), 279, 333, 341, 404, 
410, 42S, 429. 



Marie Louise Empress of the French 
(1791-1847), 90, 96, 104, 125, 218, 
219, 223, 240, 249, 253, 254, 

255- 
Marmont, Marshal Auguste Frederic 

Louis Viesse de, Due de Raguse 

(1774-1852), 227, 316, 409, 413, 

418, 
Martignac, Jean Baptiste Silvere Gaye, 

Vicomte de (1776-1832), 392, 426. 
Massena, Marechale [see d'Essltng 

Princesse). 
Massena, Marshal Andre, Prince 

d'Essling, Due de Rivoli (1758- 

1817), 17, 18, 22, 23, 26, 81, 83, 

85.. 
Maussion, Comte Adolphe de, 159. 
Maximilian I., King of Bavaria (1756- 

1825), 81, 
Mer^uay, 53- 
Mer^uay, Mme. de, 53. 
Mesnard, Louis Charles Baptiste 

Comte de (1769-1842), 321, 322, 

347, 425, 430- 
Metz, Mme. du, 244. 
Miloradovitch, General Count Michael 

(1770-1825), 228. 
Molitor, Marshal Gabriel Comte 

(1770-1849), 423. 
MoUendorff, Field-Marshal Henry 

Count (1724-1816), 12. 
Montangon, Mme. de, 244. 
Montansier, Marguerite Brunet, Mile. 

(1730-1820), 268. 
Montebello, Duchesse de, 91. 
Montelegier, General Gaspard Gabriel 

Adolphe Bernon, Vicomte de (1780- 

1825), 286. 
Montendre, Mile, de, 91. 
Montesquiou, Abbe Frangois Xavier 

Ducde (1757-1832), 279. 
Montholon, Charles Tristan Comte 

de(i782-i853), 166. 
Montmort, Marquis de, 416. 
Moreau, Dr, 238. 
Moreau, General Jean Victor (1763- 

1813), 13, 14, 15. 
Morel, 361, 421, 424, 425. 
Morel, Mme., 109, 152, 180, 186, 

361. 
Mornay, Comte Charles de, 380. 
Mortemart de Rochechouart, Due de 

(1787-1875), 318, 415. 
Mortier, Marshal Edouard Adolphe 

Casimir Joseph, Due de Trevise 

(1768-1835), 48, 50, 254. 



472 



INDEX 



Murat, IMarshal Joachim Prince, King 
of Naples (1771-1S15), 32, y:,, 35, 
164. 



N 



Nansouty, General Etienne Antoine 
Marie Champion, Comte de (1768- 
1815), 48. 

Napoleon I., Emperor of the French 
(1769-1821), 3, 24, 27, 39, 40, 42, 
43, 44, 48, 61, 63, 67, 74, 75, 77, 
80, 83, 87, 90, 92, 96, 104, 107, 
125, 127, 130, 133, 136, 149, 161, 
170, 174, 176, 213, 214, 217, 219, 
223, 226, 230, 232, 240, 242, 248, 
251, 263, 292, 302, 306, 308, 309, 
310, 360, 440,451,453. 

Napoleon III., Emperor of the French 
{see Bonaparte, Prince Louis Napo- 
leon). 

Narbonne, Comte Louis de (1775- 
1813), 125, 134, 161, 209. 

Neuchatel, Princesse de, 260, 277. 

Ney, Marshal Michel, Due d'Elchin- 
gen. Prince de la Moskowa (1769- 
1815), 126, 195, 233, 294, 297, 316. 

Nicholas I., Czar of All the Russias 
(1769-1855), 458, 

Nichols, 425. 

Noailles, Mnie. de, 425. 



O 



Ogu'inska, Mme., 155. 

Orisi, 106. 

d'Orleans, Louise Duchesse (1769- 
1821), 287, 333. 

d'Osmond, Mgr., Bishop of Nancy, 
285. 

Olt, Field-Marshal Peter Charles 
Baron, 25. 

Oudinot, Colonel Comte Auguste 
(1800-1835), 95, no, 115, 225, 288, 
306, 307, 31", 433> 4(3o, 462. 

Oudinot, Colonel Comte Charles 
(1819-1858), 68, 335, 437. 

Oudinot, General Comte Henry (1822- 
1891), 115, 362. 

Oudinot, (General Victor Marquis, Due 
de Keggio (1791-1863), 19, 68, 78, 
94, III, 112, 134, 171, 176, 179, 
180, 186, 187, 194, 209, 210. 240, 
250, 272, 277, 292, 299, 307, 309, 
423, 429, 430, 435, 460, 462. 



Oudinot, Mme., iiJe Adam, 449. 
Oudinot, Marechale, ;/t'(? Deriin (see 

Reggio, Duchesse de). 
Oudinot Marquise, n^e Minguet, 353, 

430, 435- 
Oudinot, Nicolas, i, 112, 449. 
Oudot, Mme., 70. 



Pactold, General, 272. 

Padua, Generaljean Toussaint Arrighi, 

Duke of, 364. 
Pahlen, General Count Peter, 170. 
Pajol, Comtesse, tide Oudinot, 69, 

94, 98, 127, 129, 130, 139, 420, 

427, 462. 
Pajol, General Charles (1812-1891), 

463- 
Pajol, General Eugene {1817-1885), 

4^3- 
Pajol, General Pierre Comte (1772- 

1844), 69, 94, 99, loi, 127, 128, 

130, 179, 185, 1 86, 194, 206, 250, 

272, 308, 419, 421, 462. 
Perier, Casimir (1777-1832), 340. 
Perron, Joseph, 438. 
Perron, Mme., wA' Oudinot, 334, 435, 

.438. 
Pichegru, General Henri (1761-1S04) 

14/57- 
Pils, 28, loi, 158, 176, 179, 187, 195, 

198. 
Pius VI., Supreme Pontiff {1717- 

1799), 64. 
Polignac, Prince Jules de (17S0-1847), 

394, 426. 
Poniatowsky, Joseph Prince (1763- 

1813), 234. 
Poriquet, Mme., 104, 109, 112, 139. 
Posstsse, General de, 108. 
Potier, Charles (1775-1^38), 337- 



Radziwii.t., Prince Anthony Henry 

( 1775- >-'^33)- 209. 
Rapji, tieneral Jean (1772-1821), 2c6, 

208. 360. 
Reggio. Charles Oudinot, Due de 

(1851-1891), 441. 
Reggio, Henri Charles Victor Roger 

Oudinot, Due de, 441. 
Reggio, Duchesse de, tu'e Castelbajac, 

441. 



INDEX 



473 



Reggio, Duchesse de, ti^e Berlin, 6, 

67, 69, 71, 88, 94, 449. 
Regnaud de Saint-Jean d'Angely, 

Micltel Louis EtienneComte(i76o- 

1819), 221. 
Reichsladt, Frangois Charles Joseph 

Napoleon, Due de, King of Rome 

(1811-1832), 241, 254, 309. 
Reynier, General Jean Louis Ebnezer 

(1771-1814), 229, 230, 233. 
Robespierre, Auguste Bon Joseph 

(1764-1794), 55- 
Rochefort, Marquis de, 325. 
Roguet, General Fran9ois Comte, 

295- 
Rome, King of [see Reichstadt, Due 

de). 
Rosalie, 55, 57, 99, 141. 
Roure, Marquise du, 268, 269, 310. 
Roux, Dr, 215. 
Ruffin, Genera], 34, 43. 
Rumily, Comte de, 412. 



Sabran, Marquise de, 224. 
Sabran, Comte Elzear de, 224. 
Saillant, Comte de, 121. 
Saint-Aubin, Baron de, 356. 
Saint-Chamans, Comte de, 323. 
Saint-Cricq, Comte de, 340. 
Sainte-Aulaire, Louis Beaupoil, Comte 

de (1778-1854), 223, 253, 255, 262. 
Sainte-Aulaire, Comtesse de, 223, 253, 

25s, 258, 269, 339. 
Saint-Marsan, Comte de, 125, 144, 

148, 153- 
Sambucy, Comte de, 387. 
San Martino, Duchess of, 406. 
San Valantino, Duchess of, 406. 
Sassenay, Marquis de, 321, 362, 425. 
Schwarzenberg, Charles Philip Prince 
■ (1771-1819), 249. 
Scilla, Prince, 326, 395, 406. 
Sebastiani de la Porta, Marshal Horace 

Comte (1775-1851), 126. 
Semonviile, Charles Louis Huguet, 

Marquis de (1754-1839), 337. 
Sesmaisons, Comte de, 121. 
Solikoff, 204. 
Soult, Marshal Nicolas Jean de Dieu, 

Due de Dalmatie (1769-1852), 50, 

291, 429, 431, 432. 
Souwaroff, General Peter Alexis 

Vasilievitch Count (1730-1800), 20. 
31 



Stael-Holstein, Baronne de (1766- 

1817), 225, 270. 
Suchet, Marechale {see d'Albufera, 

Duchesse). 
Suchet, Marshal Louis Gabriel Due 

d'Albufera (1772- 1826), 24, 44, 

357. 



Talleyrand-Perigord, Cardinal 

Alexandre Angelique de, Archbishop 

of Paris (1736-1822), 318. 
Talleyrand-Perigord, Charles Maurice 

de, Prince de Benevent (1754- 

1838). 305- 
Tauentzien, General, 231. 
Tchaplitz, General, 171. 
Tchitchakoff, Admiral Paul Vasilievitch 

(1767-1849), 175. 
Thermes, 1 13, 157, 209. 
Thiers, Louis Adolphe (1797-1877), 

171. 
Trezel, General Camille Alphonse 

(1 780- 1 860), 433. 
Trommelin, General, 295, 303. 



Vatry, 420. 

Vatry, Mme. de, 421, 

Vaublanc, Comte Viennot de (1756- 

1845), 292, 313. 
Vaublanc, Comtesse Viennot de, 292. 
Vauguyron, Duchesse de, 321. 
Vaulserre, Marquis de, 404. 
Velle, Mile, de, 58. 
Verdier, General, 48. 
Verdiere, General de, 374. 
Verger, 172, 173, _ 245. 
Vernet, Jean Emile Horace (1789- 

1863), 30. 
Vesins, Lieutenant Antoine de Levezou 

de Vesins (1845-1870), 438, 463. 
Vesins, Ludovic de Levezou, Marquis 

de, 434, 438. _ 
Vesins, Marquise de, n^e Oudinot, 

.391, 434, 438. 
Vicence, Armand Augustin Louis de 

Caulincourt, Due de (1773-1827), 

.253- 
Victor, Victor Perrin, Marshal, Due 
de Bellune (1766-1841), 126, 167, 
168, 169, 170, 174, 234, 316. 



474 



INDEX 



Villele, Joseph Comte de (1773-1S54), 

387. 
Villeneuve, Comte Christophe de 

(1771-1S29), 324. 
Mllers, Eugene de, 62, 63. 
Villers, Mme. de, 62. 

W 

Wagram, Duchesse de (see Neucbatel, 

Princesse de). 
Waleska, Ccmntess, 270. 
VVeissenwolff, General, 234. 
William I., King of the Netherlands 

(1772-1S43), 97. 
William II., King of the Netherlands 

(1792-184S), 456. 



Wintzingerode, General Ferdinand 

Baron (1770-1S18), 251. 
Wittgenstein, P'ield - Marshal Louis 

Adolphus Peter, Prince Sayn (1769- 

1843) 132, 136, 13S, i6o, 169, 175, 

227. 



Xaintrailles, 272, 420. 



Zainau, General, 14. 



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stamped throughout with the impress of an original mind and a sterling character." — 
London Times. 

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ryECOLLECTIONS OF THE COURT OF THE 
•/V TUILERIES. By Madame Carette, Lady-of-Honor to the 
Empress Eugenie. Translated from the French by Elizabeth 
Phipps Train. i2mo. Cloth, $i.oo ; paper cover. 50 cents. 

"A gossiping and very interesting account of the Second Empire. The narrative 
ias to do mainly with the social life of the court, and yet it offers many a glimpse of 
the larger world of politics. Its sprightly style, its keen insight into social character, 
and its bright comments on men and events, make the book very readable." — The Critic. 

"The many surviving Americans who were presented at the French court during 
the last Empire, and are still fondly cherishing the memory of things as they were, will 
be delighted with this little book. According to Mme. Carette, things in the days ol 
the third Napoleon were about as they should be in France, especially at court, and 
the narrative is written with a simplicity and sincerity which disarm criticism." — Neiu 
York Herald. 

n^EMOIRS OF MADAME DE REM U SAT. 

IrJ- 1802-1808. Edited by her Grandson, PAUL DE Remusat, 
Senator. 3 volumes, crown 8vo. Half bound, $2.25. 

" Notwithstanding the enormous library of works relating to Napoleon, we know 
of none which cover precisely the ground of these Memoirs. Madame de Kemusat 
was not only lady-in-waiting to Josephine during the eventful years 1802-1808, but 
was her intimate friend and trusted confidante. Thus we get a view of the daily life 
of Bonaparte and his wife, and the terms on which they lived, not elsewhere to be 
found."— iV. Y. Mail. 

" These Memoirs are not only a repository of anecdotes and of portraits sketched 
from life by a keen-eyed, quick-witted woman ; some of the author's reflections on social 
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/I SELECTION FROM THE LETTERS OF 

-^ MADAME DE REMUSA T. 1804-1814. Edited by her 

Grandson, Paul de Remusat, Senator. i2mo. Cloth, $1.25. 

" These letters have the character of intimate correspondence, and though they do' 
not avoid public events, are not devoted to them. They depict the social aspect of the 
times, and form an excellent background against which to review the public events 
which form the principal subject of the previous Memoirs by the same author." — The 
Indepetident, 

" A most attractive volume. The letters will be read by those who have perused the 
Memoirs with as much pleasure as by those who in them make the writer's acquaintance 
for the first time." — Al. Y. Herald. . 

njEMOIRS OF NAPOLEON, Ms Court and Family. 

•^ '-^ By the Duchess d'Abrantes. In 2 volumes, i2mo. Cloth, 

I3.00. 

The interest excited in the first Napoleon and his court by the " Memoirs of 
Madame de R6rausat," induced the publishers to issue the famous " Memoirs of the 
Duchess d'Abrantes," which had previously appeared in a costly octavo edition, in a 
much cheaper form, and in a style to correspond with the De R6musat. This work 
presents a much more favorable portrait of the great Corsican than that limned by 
Madame de Remusat, and supplies many valuable and interesting details respecting 
the court and family of Napoleon which are found in no other work. 



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RUDYARD KIPLING'S NEW BOOK. 

nr^HE SEVEN SEAS. A new volume of poems by 
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morocco, $5.00. 

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imaginative it is, how impassioned, how superbly rhylhmic and sonorous! . . . The 
ring and diction of this verse add new elements to our song. . . . The true laureate 
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" The most original poet who has appeared in his generation. . . . His is the lusti- 
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" He has the very he.nrt of movement, for the lack of which no metrical science 
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HE BEGINNERS OF A NATION. A History 
of the Source and Rise of the Earliest English Settlements in 
America, with Special Reference to the Life and Character of 
the People. The first volume in A History of Life in the 
United States. By Edward Eggleston. Small 8vo. Cloth, 
gilt top, uncut, with Maps, $1.50. 

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attractive by a vigorous and resonant style, the book will receive much attention. It 
is a great theme the author has taken up, and he grasps it with the confidence of a 
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" Mr. Eggleston's ' Beginners ' is unique. No similar historical study has, to our 
knowledge, ever been done in the same way. Mr. Eggleston is a reliable reporter of 
facts; but he is also an exceedingly keen critic. He writes history without the effort 
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some of the dullest passages in colonial annals actually amusing by his witty treatment 
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yawns. And with all this he does not sacrifice the dignity of history for an instant." — 
Boston Saturday Evenitig Gazette. 

"The delightful style, the clear flow of the narrative, the philosophical tone, and 
the able analysis of men and events will commend Mr. Eggleston's work to earnest 
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dent of history." — Minneajiolis Journal. 

"A very interesting as well as avaluable book. . . . A distinct advance upon most 
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" One of the most important books of the year. It is a work of art as well as ot 
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" The value of Mr. Eggleston's work is in that it is really a history of 'life,' not 
merely a record of events. . . . The comprehensive purpose of his volume has been 
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^HE SEATS OF THE MIGHTY. Being the 

Memoirs of Captain Robert Moray, sometime an Officer in 

the Virginia Regiment, and afterwards of Amherst's Regiment. 

i2mo. Cloth, illustrated, $1.50. 

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tive with breathing space. It whirls with excitement and strange adventure. . . . .AH 
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which his talents have taken therein. . . . It is so good that ue do not stop to think of 
its literature, ami the personality of Doltaire is a masterpiece of creative art." — JVew 
York Mail and Ejcprcss. 



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HE TRAIL OF THE SWORD. A Novel 

i2mo. Paper, 50 cents ; cloth, $1.00. 

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n^HE TRANSLATION OF A SAVAGE. i6mo. 
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HE STATEMENT OF STELLA MABERLY. 

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don Literary World. 

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" A drama of biting intensity. A tragedy of Inflexible purpose and relentless result." 
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HARD WOMAN. A Story in Scenes. By Violet 
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Edited by Ripley Hitchcock. 

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HE STOR Y OF THE INDIAN. By George 
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HE STORY OF THE MINE. By Charles 
Howard Shinn. Illustrated. i2mo. Cloth, $1.50. 

" The author has written a book, not alone full of information, but replete with the 
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"Both a history and a romance. . . . Highly interesting, new, and thrilling."— 
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IN PREPAR.4TION. 

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The Story of the Cowboy. By E. Hough. 

The Story of the Soldier. By Capt. J. McB. Stembel, U. S. A. 

The Story of the Explorer. 

The Story of the Railroad. 



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By a. CONAN DOYLE. 
Unifonn edition. i2mo. Cloth, $ i.^o per volume. 
JDODNEY STONE. Illustrated. 

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' Micah Clarke,' and other notable romances." — London Daily News. 

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HE EXPLOITS OF BRIGADIER GERARD. 

A Romance of the Life of a Typical Napoleonic Soldier, Illus- 
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" May be set down without reservation as the most thoroughly enjoyable book that 
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HE STARK MUNRO LETTERS. Being a 
Series of Twelve Letters written by Stark Munro, M. B., 
to his friend and former fellow-student, Herbert Swanborough, 
of Lowell, Massachusetts, during the years 1 881-1884. Illus- 
trated. 

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-* *- Fancies of Medical Life. 

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D. APPLETON & CO.'S PUBLICATIONS. 
OUISA MUHLBACH'S HISTORICAL 

NOVELS. New edition, i8 vols. Illustrated. i2mo. Cloth, 
per volume, $i.oo. Set, in box, $iS.oo. 



In offering to the public our new and illustrated \2mo edition of 
Louisa Muhlbach's celebrated historical romances we wish to call 
'attention to the continued and increasing popularity of these books for 
over thirty years. These romances are as well known in England 
and America as in the author's native country, Germany, and it has 
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tinctness of the characters portrayed, these books offer exceptional 
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the events and personages of great historical epochs. 

The titles are as follows : 

Napoleon and the Queen of Prussia. 

The Empress Josephine. 

Napoleon and Blucher. 

Queen Hortense. 

Marie Antoinette and her Son. 

Prince Eugene and his Times. 

The Daughter of an Empress. 

Joseph II and his Court. 

Frederick the Great and his Court. 

Frederick the Great and his Family. 

Berlin and Sans-Souci. 

Goethe and Schiller. 

The Merchant of Berlin, and Maria Theresa and 

her Fireman. 
Louisa of Prussia and her Times. 
Old Fritz and the New Era. 
Andreas Hofer. 

Mohammed Ali and his House. 
Henry VIII and Catherine Parr. 



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